Christmas at Ben's House

THUMP!

That was the first sound I heard on Christmas morning, as one of the kids opened and then "gently" closed the door to the room where I was sleeping. I have to give them credit, they'd been up for about an hour, waiting for me so they could start opening presents. Meanwhile, I was oblivious. I got up, and then it was "bring on da noise, bring on da funk" for the rest of the day.

I spent Christmas Eve and then Christmas morning with Ben and his family. It was a load of fun, the first time I've spent the day with them for Christmas. On Christmas Eve, Sarah came over and we shared one of their traditions--Chinese take-out for Christmas Eve dinner. I don't know the origins of that one--I couldn't find it in the four gospels anywhere--but it was great. Christmas Eve will never again be complete without Orange Beef and Walnut Prawns.

The kids all got matching pajama bottom pants in a Mickey Mouse pattern from their Grandma R., modeled above by Sam. They changed into those and also were wearing (except Ammon) t-shirts I'd brought back from the Philippines.

On Christmas morning, they opened the rest of their presents. Their Grandma R., Sarah's mom, made an amazing array of beautifully crafted items, a dress for Lura, matching shirts for Sam and Ammon, a bow tie for each of the boys, among others. Gay is an exceptional skilled tailor. They also received some toys, some gifts from each other and from Ben and Sarah. Sam got a new bike--a real beauty. I gave Lura an "American Girl" doll (Kit Kittridge), robot kits for Sam and Ammon, and a set of "Thomas the Train" DVD for Joshua. Sarah made me a cloth grocery bag with a baseball fabric (lined in perfect Green Monster green). Since Seattle will start imposing a $.20 per bag fee on plastic bags in January, that is a very timely and useful gift. She used a regular plastic bag as a pattern--the apple did not fall far from the tree in her household.

After present-opening, Ben and Sarah had prepared a brunch with breakfast casserole, bread pudding, hot chocolate (homemade), muffins, breads and fresh pineapple. Their friends Steve and Apple came over, with their daughter Samalia. The little girl was born at the same time as Joshua and was also very premature, and the two families met when those little kids were in Mary Bridge together for several months. It's been fun to see the two of them develop and grow so beautifully after such a rough start.

Emelia's Birthday

I refer you to Becky's blog for the story around the birthday cake, and I do recommend it. Truly a sad story.

I met Becky, Mike and the kids at the Red Robin restaurant in the Northgate Mall for a birthday celebration. Her friends Cynthia and Carrie were there with their husbands and Margery was there, but still waiting for her boyfriend, who is in Ohio. Becky has done a great job staying close to the friends she made in high school and they seem to always be around for her family celebrations. That's really been great, as they're fun and good people. They go out of their way to spoil Becky's kids, which is also fun. The highlight gift of the day was a huge pink stuffed pony that Cynthia and Dan gave Emelia. Emmy loved it right away and started riding it and hugging it. Another big hit was the quilt from Margery with scenes from the Wizard of Oz. Emelia loves that movie and the quilt was beautiful-Margery made it with help from her mom, who is a very talented seamstress. Emmy declared it a blanket for her horse, but from her that was meant as high praise.

I love this picture of Cynthia with Zack. That kid fell asleep during dinner, despite the din of the busy restaurant, and managed to even sleep through the wait staff singing the birthday song!

Becky's fourth effort at a cake for Emelia turned out great, as you can see from these pictures Becky took at the party on Monday. Emelia really looks like quite the ballerina princess and the cake is outstanding!

Becky's Alphabet Tag

A-Attached or Single--attached to Mexica
B-Best Friends--they know who they are
C-Cake or Pie--why even ask? Cake, even the best cake, is nowhere on the radar beside a good piece of pie, particularly apple pie made with tart apples, served with razor sharp cheddar cheese and good vanilla ice cream
D-Day of Choice-Sunday is my only day off
E-Essential Item-Internet connection
F-I need to give my youngest child some alphabet lessons
G-Greatest Accomplishment-This is technical, but my work creating the childhood disability evaluation form is something that's lasted more than 10 years now--an eternity in government forms time--and people still comment on how good the form is. How's that for obscure and arcane?
H-Hometown-Springfield, Mass.
I-Indulgences-An occasional trip to the Philippines, a subscription to the Opera
J-January or July-Well, January is my birthday, so it gets the slight edge even though July has baseball and Independence Day
K-Kids-5-3 boys and 2 girls
L-Life is Incomplete Without--Baseball
M-Marriage Date-I'll let you know
N-Number of Siblings-2, 1 bro, 1 sis
O-Oranges or Apples-Apples
P-Phobias-Heights-if I was 6' tall, I'd be scared to stand up
Q-Quotes-"No one in this world has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people" (H. L. Mencken)
R-Reason to Smile-W leaves office in under 2 months, though he leaves little to smile about.
S-Season-Fall
T-Tag-Haven't played in years, I'm more of a hide-and-seek guy
U-Unknown Facts About Me-If I wanted you to know, they wouldn't be unknown facts
V-Very Favorite Store-Powell's Bookstore in Portland OR
W-Worst Habit-Procrastination
X-X-Ray or Ultra Sound-I'm getting more and more x-rays these days, just spare me any more MRIs.
Y-Your Favorite Food-This changes by the day-lumpia, shrimp cocktail, rare steak, jambalaya are all good, but it is very difficult to do better than a high-quality, well-prepared hamburger.
Z-Zodiac sign-Aquarius (Chinese-Ox)

Lukas Turns 5

Lukas turned five this week and had birthday party with a theme of knights and dragons. Becky made an amazing dragon cake and a dragon pinata and the kids played knight games--jousting with nerf lances. Luckily it was a sunny day, the only one of the weekend, so the kids could play outside. The gang of kids was loud and crazy, but well-behaved.

Baltimore Training Class

I just got back from a great training class in Baltimore. They were stimulating in class and we always had a wonderful time after class.

Shenandoah Valley, Rain and Shine

I went through the Shenandoah National Park on October 25 and 26, with the 25th rainy and foggy in the mountains and the 26th sunny and clear. I enjoyed both days and the park was beautiful both times. The lightening-struck tree above is the same place on the two days and, I think, gives some idea as to how different the same places were on the two contrasting days. In some ways I enjoyed the rainy day more. The limited visibility forced me to concentrate on the small scale, the close-up, because the vistas were shrouded in fog. Of the two photos above, I prefer the foggy day shot.

There were still some wonderful, grander views on the 26th when it was clear.

So you can look at the photos above and see for yourself. For me, both days were beautiful and I find the contrast in the two sets of pictures to be fun. Don't be afraid of a rainy day!

Becky's Kids

I had a nice visit with Becky, Mike and family this weekend. It's always nice to be loved and welcome. These are all on the swing set at their new house. Great house and nice, big yard.

Touring Vermont-Covered Bridges

In all fairness to the Granite State, the covered bridges shown below are equally divided between Vermont and New Hampshire, with 2 in each state and 1 that spans the Connecticut River and connects them. But we spent most of our time in Vermont, so they get the nod on that basis. Mom and I spent the day today playing leaf peeper. We fell into collecting covered bridges by accident. The first one we found, near Brattleboro, VT, we found only because we took an unintended turn. Most of the rest were also serendipity, including a sixth bridge I found 2 weeks later on a separate trip to Virginia.

The second bridge, also in Vermont, was the one in the most questionable condition. I've lost track of exactly where we were, but it was some where near Manchester.

We found the third one because I saw a sign on Highway 12A in New Hampshire that said Covered Bridge #23 was down this little dirt road. We wound around about 3/4 to 1 mile down a narrow lane and found this bridge, still in regular (if infrequent) use and in good repair. This is between the towns of Cornish and Clarendon. I would say that this was my favorite bridge, still practical, not ornate or a tourist attraction, but functioning still a link in this small country road. There are houses on both sides of the stream the bridge spans.

Bridge #20 (our fourth of the day) was this long span across the Connecticut River between Cornish, New Hampshire and Windsor, Vermont. Notice the outrageous cost ($9,000)!. I enjoyed the sign reminding riders to walk their horses across the bridge or face a hefty fine ($2). While I was taking these photos a young man emerged from the bridge on his skateboard. I think it safe to say that the builders of the bridge never imagined that.


A mile or so down the road from bridge #20, we saw a sign for bridge #22, so we followed that arrow and found this bridge. It was getting late in the day and the sun was fading fast, but I think I got some decent photos of this last bridge, also near Cornish, New Hampshire.


Finding covered bridges wasn't something we planned as part of our day, but it ended up being fun. If we'd set out to hunt them, I would have gotten a map, made a plan and maybe we'd have missed the joy of the unexpected.

Talking about unexpected, bridge number six is one I stumbled upon in Virginia! I was driving the Shenandoah Valley on October 25th to see the mountains and the battlefields, and there was a sign for a covered bridge. I drove not too far down a farm country road, there it was. It's a beautiful bridge over a small stream (in local parlance, a run) near the town of Mount Jackson (Yeah, that Jackson), VA. I was in Baltimore for a 2 week training class (inflicting training on others) and rented a car for the weekend. More photos on my drive along the Blue Ridge in a separate post.

Tagged reply

I've been told that the convention is to post the response to one's own blog, so here it is, with "Thanks" to Becky:

3 Names:

Jim, Grandpa (my favorite), Dad

3 Restaurants:

The Double Muskie (Girdwood, Alaska)--this is on the same little dirt road as Ted Steven's remodeled house, the house that (with any luck) got that obnoxious old coot out of the Senate and into a pleasant prison cell; Louisiana (Baltimore); Thai Siam (Seattle).

3 trips this year:

Philippines/Thailand, Baltimore, and Philippines again
3 pets:

Lady, Max, Sputnik

3 things I did yesterday:

Fly from Seattle to Boston, take pictures of my grand-nieces, talk to my mom

3 things I ate today:

Turkey sandwich at Panera, Frank's Lasagna (pretty good), bagel

3 fears:

John McCain elected and then dies (SHUDDERS!!!!), continuing financial collapse, delays in dealing with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement)

3 things I will do today:

Drive to Long Island, take my mom to get her car at the mechanic, go to bed soon

3 favorite Holidays:

Thanksgiving, Christmas, Fourth of July

3 favorite drinks:

pass

Addenda: Mom's car wasn't ready. The number 3 restaurant may change at any moment. It may not be coincidence that numbers 1 and 2 are cajun. I really think I need to visit New Orleans. I will be visiting Bangkok in a couple of weeks and maybe then a native Thai restaurant will be added.

Lura is SIX!

We had a birthday party for Lura today. She will be six tomorrow.


She cleaned up on Barbie--Mariposa Barbie from Grandma and 3 Fairytopia Barbies from Grandpa, along with a DVD of the Fairytopia movie.

Sam and Ammon pooled money they'd earned on their paper route to get her a My Little Pony set.
Grandpa and Grandma from Ohio couldn't be there, but sent a great looking coat, very warm with heart buttons

Uncle David and Aunt Wendy were at the party and so were Uncle Gary and Aunt Sarah (accompanied by Murray), Grandma and Grandpa. Gary and Sarah came up with cash (which is just as good as money). David and Wendy are paying for another year of riding lessons, which Lura just loves. We ate some great sandwiches and then cake and ice cream.

All in all, a great party.

IMPORTANT LETTER PLEASSE HELP

This letter, which I got from another website, pretty much sums up my thoughts on bailing out Wall Street. These are the guys who are always complaining (or, in the words of Senator Gramm, whining) that middle class Americans don't have their houses in order. They're the literati of the world of finance. We just don't understand these complex things. Now they need our $700 Billion to rescue them from their greed and incompetence. And we're supposed to trust a minion of the most incompetent, dishonest, greedy and manipulative government in the history of USA with all this money, no questions asked. That's $2300 for every man, woman and child in the country. I may have fallen off the turnip truck, but I didn't land on my head.

Dear American:

I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship with a transfer of funds of great magnitude.

I am Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America. My country has had crisis that has caused the need for large transfer of funds of 800 billion dollars US. If you would assist me in this transfer, it would be most profitable to you.

I am working with Mr. Phil Gram, lobbyist for UBS, who will be my replacement as Ministry of the Treasury in January. As a Senator, you may know him as the leader of the American banking deregulation movement in the 1990s. This transactin is 100% safe.

This is a matter of great urgency. We need a blank check. We need the funds as quickly as possible. We cannot directly transfer these funds in the names of our close friends because we are constantly under surveillance. My family lawyer advised me that I should look for a reliable and trustworthy person who will act as a next of kin so the funds can be transferred.

Please reply with all of your bank account, IRA and college fund account numbers and those of your children and grandchildren to wallstreetbailout@treasury.gov so that we may transfer your commission for this transaction. After I receive that information, I will respond with detailed information about safeguards that will be used to protect the funds.

Yours Faithfully Minister of Treasury Paulson

Estee Lauder Politics

Last weekend it was Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, now, we have Wall Street continuing to collapse, with Lehman Brothers seemingly bankrupt, Merrill-Lynch needing to be sold to someone so they can avoid that fate, and Washington Mutual endangered. We found out that we're importing tainted baby formula from China. Hurricane Ike has brought back $4 gas (what a surprise, a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico). Unemployment continues high and foreclosures have set another new single month record. American casualties mount in Afghanistan and we have illegally invaded Pakistan, a nation we've in the past described as a critical ally in our so-called "War on Terror". And the debate among TV's talking heads? Makeup on farm animals. This nation is descending into idiocy.

In the prior post about Governor Palin, I removed the statement that she was a supporter of Buchanan in 2000, as it seems she actually supported Steve Forbes, and I clarified that she has been associated with the AIP, but has not been a member. Her greeting to their convention as Governor was way to friendly and First Dude Todd is a member, but she's been a faithful Republican since 1982. I apologize for the errors.

On trying to get her brother-in-law fired, this is a high school civics issue. You don't use public office for private gain or to further your private interests. When you're a public office holder and you run into an issue that involves your private interests, you recuse yourself to avoid the appearance of conflict of interest. The personal failings of the individual in question are not an issue. For all I know he's a terrible police officer who should be fired. It doesn't matter. These things should be handled in a manner consistent with law. Ms Palin appears, instead, to view holding public office as an opportunity for personal aggrandizement and for the settling of personal scores. It is exactly that separation that distinguishes our Constitutional form of government, in which power and authority are vested in an office and incidentally in an office holder, from a monarchy, in which power and authority are held by an individual as an individual. For the Latter-day Saint readers, I would refer you to the 121st section of the D&C.

I would expect any conservative to be appalled by her actions. These are the kinds of things that have marked the Bush administration's most significant failings, the belief that the President is above the law (as one of his spokesmen said "the President is always right") and that public office is an invitation to pillage the public purse (Halliburton). We're a government of laws and not of men. The growth of police powers and their partisan use--as exemplified by Justice Department officials asking political and religious questions of would-be attorneys--is a shockingly inappropriate use of power. If you're a Republican (or if you won't admit you're a Republican and you're a "conservative") just imagine what you'd think if similar questions are asked in an Obama administration.

McCain-Palin

Gotta love this!

Mariners ALERT!

It appears that Lukas has been paying attention this year, and wishes to offer a critique of the season.

I think he makes a good point.

Lukas at the Ball Game

What a day! Lukas, along with Becky and Mike and Grandpa, took in a late season game at Safeco Field. The Mariners, from time to time, have a peanut-free seating area and we took advantage of that to go out to the ballpark on a perfect late Summer evening. Well, let's call it potentially perfect, the Mariners-after a very nice series against NY-reverted to their usual form today, which ruined that aspect of the outing. But, the game started out with all of us getting free Ichiro tee shirts! Before the end, Lukas told Becky he was having a great time. He endured a pretzel (not shown), blue cotton candy and a foot long hot dog and left the game happy, if on somewhat of a sugar high.