Tradition!

I have strong opinions about tradition. I come from a long line of folks who love Fiddler on the Roof. Plus, I know how tradition and memory help ground a person.

When the DH and I got together, he didn't have many Christmas traditions. I had several from my family, but we wanted something that was just ours for Christmas. The main things we have now are selecting at least one new Christmas tree ornament together and going on the Christmas Ships. We also share some of my old family traditions, including putting a chocolate ladybug in the toe of our Christmas stockings and reading the Christmas story on Christmas eve.

Well, this year seams to have turned out as the year the traditions didn't happen. There was a huge storm the day of our Christmas ships reservations, so we didn't make the treck out to the docks in Kirkland to go. Because of all the snow and storms, I couldn't make it downtown to Cost Plus to find chocolate ladybugs. The ornament we were looking at in Hawaii somehow didn't get purchased (but Mom sent an ornament, so maybe we can consider that our ornament for this year), and we didn't even read the Christmas story on Christmas eve.

It may sound like a very sorry Christmas, indeed, but really it was wonderful. Instead of our normal traditions, we had the 9 days of Christmas from my parents, went to our friends' house for Christmas eve homemade pizzas (their Christmas tradition) and had a wonderful visit with firends there, we both recieved lovely gifts from each other, and we had a wonderful time with the local family here for dinner on Christmas day and seeing some of the neat toys the nephew got for Christmas.

Out of this, we may have a couple of new traditions. I like the Christmas dinner on Christmas day and I think we'll keep doing that. We had smoked turkey (divine!!!) and I think that may become our Christmas staple. We may have to join the Christmas eve pizza eaters, too. We had a great time making our individual pizzas and sharing with friends.

In the end, I learned that the most important part of the holiday is who I spend it with. In spite of the snow and mixed up plans, we had a wonderful holiday. I'm so blessed with my wonderful family and happy that we got to spend time together without the interruptions of work. The most important tradition still happened. I spent Christmas with the DH.

The 12 -- Oops, Make That 9 -- Days of Christmas

This Christmas, my parents did something really wonderful for all of us. They put together a series of gifts for us to open each day on the nine days before Christmas. We opened books, puzzles, holiday pillow cases, a wonderful Christmas CD that my dad put together, and more fun things. '

Tonight, we opened the last gift, the ornament you see here. If you can't read it, it has Christ in large letters with the smaller lettering reading Wise Men Still Seek Him.















On this Christmas eve, I wish you all a very merry Christmas. Love to all of you!

Snow Days

We've had more snow in the last week than I've seen in one place in years. I don't even think I saw this much in Boise the last few years I was living there. I believe there were at least ten inches of snow on the ground by early this morning. In fact, I think there's a good five or six inches packed on the road.

As I was trying to get out of the neighborhood, it reminded me of growing up on Wyndham lane, another street with low volumes of traffic. We had a few winters with quite a lot of snow. One winter, we even had snow days – not because of the snow exactly, but because the boiler went out at the school and there was no heat. They never closed the schools for snow.

We've seen all the main roads here get plowed and sanded and the lovely side streets stay heavily laden. In those heavy snows back home, the families on the street got together and actually paid to have the street plowed. It meant that we could safely get in and out of the street when the rest of the roads were easy to traverse. It also meant that our street melted and was dry as quickly as any of the main roads.

Today, we're going to see some ugly streets as it's started to thaw and those ten inches of snow are blocking the storm drains. I think it will take a few days for everything to melt off, but the worst of it is over now. And I don't think we'll be having a white Christmas after all.

Playing on my iPod This Week (Dec 23) -- Kathy Mattea "Good News"

Kathy Mattea is a super talented Country singer. I don't have any of her Country albums, but her Christmas album Good News is one of my favorites. And, for once, this is a song even my dad will really like.

Like my sister Annzy, I really love the Christmas music, but I stear clear of The Carpenters and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I like things with a little extra something. That's what I get from Matea's Christmas album.

Enjoy!

Highlights and more...

I didn't post highlights last week, because it was just too crazy, so I'll have to cover the last two weeks. Here are the good things:

• A fun project with the Relief Society making stockings for under-priveledged children. We also had very yummy soup for dinner and I got to hang out with some fantastic women who I really enjoy.
• Going to Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and then getting Annzy jealous about it. It was based on the movie, so it had all the fun things Annzy loves.
• A weekend with NO obligations at all and then church cancelled. It's been a long time since I could just take care of personal stuff and enjoy the weekend.
• A super fun Indian cooking class with Carolyn and Lori. The food was fantastic and I need to get some of the spices so I can try the recipes. We totally stunk after the class, but it was worth it.
• More Indian food the next night with my co-workers. The only down side of that was wishing Patrick could have joined me.
• Snow, snow, and then more snow! I guess this is good and bad, but I'm not stranded anywhere, not missing a trip to see loved-ones, and not worried about getting in a wreck on the roads. I'm blessed to be in a nice warm house and be able to work from home, so I don't have to stress out about things getting too far behind there.
• Making pecan brittle and having it turn out right on the first try (so I didn't have to waste all that butter and pecans).
• Giving a talk in church yesterday. I know it's hard to believe, but I actually volunteered and then got help from Dad and gave a talk that got pretty good reviews. There were only 28 of us at church and I must say that I enjoyed the much more intimate meeting.

Well, life is good and I'm looking forward to the rest of this week. We may see a thaw, but we may see more frozen stuff too.

Halls Officially Decked

It took us a little longer this year than usual this year to get the decorations up, but they really do look lovely. When we went to get the tree, we saw boughs of fresh greenery, so we picked up some of that too. I used it on the fireplace and was really pleased with how it turned out.

We also got the tree up and decorated. It only took a week to get it all done. The tree stood bare in the living room for a full week waiting for lights and decorations. Patrick had gone out of town for a few days and I just didn't want to decorate it without him.

I have many "favorite" decorations, so I couldn't point out the best one, but I sure like how the nativity scene looks this year.

Let It Snow

Time: 5:45 p.m.
Date: December 20th, 2008
Temperature: 23 degrees fahrenheit
Skies: Overcast and snowing
Location: Broadview neighborhood of Seattle, WA
Time to drive to work: silly, it's Saturday. No driving to work today. And church is already cancelled again for tomorrow.

Baby It's Cold Outside

Time: 10:20 a.m.
Date: December 19th, 2008
Temperature: 25 degrees fahrenheit
Skies: Clear and sunny
Location: Wallingford neighborhood of Seattle, WA
Time to drive to work: 27 minutes (half the time it took yesterday)

A First

It's a beautiful day in Seattle today. We have an inch of snow that fell overnight. It started after about 9:00 last night and kept on for a good part of the night. The snow cover makes everything look clean and pretty. It's especially nice with all the Christmas lights on the trees and houses peaking out of the snow.

It's the first snow of the season for us, but not the "first" that I'm really blogging about this morning. In over 40 years of living in the intermountain west, I have never seen church cancelled. Today, no church! We got a call about 6:30 this morning to tell the DH that his early meeting was cancelled and asking him to call a few other families to let thme know that church would be cancelled as well. So, the DH and I will enjoy the morning at home in our nice warm living room that's all decked for the holidays now.

The Secret -- I Guess It's Not an Inside Joke

18 months ago, or so, I learned about "The Secret" from a friend at work. It was discussed on Oprah and then Kevin lent me the DVD. It was astoundingly silly and the DH and I had a good laugh about "using the Secret" to get the things we want. You see, the concept behind "The Secret" is that you can get anything and everything you want in life by simple positive thinking. Well, there may be some truth to the positive thinking, but it's not going to get you a dream house or delightful vacation.

So, after watching the DVD, the DH and I started talking about "using the Secret" to get the red light to change to green or find the best cut of meat. Then when Annzy and Aimes came, Annzy "used the Secret" to get a trip out to Forks.

Now, everyone's using our joke! First it happened last week when Yang talked about "the Secret" on Gray's Anatomy (and did they jump the shark this season with the ghosts and operating on each other, or what?!?). Then this week, it happened again on Pushing Daisies. I watch four TV shows, and in the matter of a week, "the Secret" has been mentioned on two of them. Go figure.

7 Brides, or How to Make Annzy Jealous

Last night, I got to go see 7 Brides for 7 Brothers at the 5th Avenue Theater. It was great fun! I wanted to go, but of course the DH would rather have surgery than go see a musical, so that wasn't going to happen. He's at training out of town this week, so when friends asked at the last minute yesterday afternoon, I was thrilled that I didn't already have plans for the evening.

I met the group at a restaurant accross the street from the theater where they met for dinner before the show. We went over to the theater to find our seats somewhere near the very top of the back balcony. Well, the show was free for me, so the seats were fine. Just before the lights went down, it was obvious that many of the balcony seats were not going to be occupied so we moved quite a bit closer.

7 Brides is really just a fun show. There's a LOT of dancing and this particular show had quite a few scenes where the shirts fell off the men. Considering that these are very fit men with abs of steal, the shirts falling off was just fine. There are not really any tunes you'd be humming on your way out of the show, but it doesn't really matter. It's a bit of fun for the couple of hours your there and the cast really delivered on the fun. I love watching performers who clearly enjoy what they're doing and you could tell how much they all enjoyed it (or could really act like they enjoyed it).

If you're in Seattle and can get to the show, I highly recommend it -- unless of course you hate watching people sing and dance. There's a lot of that going around in 7 Brides.

Playing on my iPod This Week (Dec 10) -- Barenaked For the Holidays

My apologies to the young ones reading my blog, but I really like the band Barenaked Ladies in spite of (or even because of) the name and their Christmas album is really fun. I think the DH is already tired of it, but I love it. I have a lot more love for the Christmas music than he does anyway, so one time through was probably enough for him.

I really enjoy Christmas music that is a little less traditional. I grew up with Soulful Strings, a Christmas album with all instrumental jazz arrangements of Christmas tunes and loved the Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack. Now, I enjoy the Manhattan Transfer and Cuba L.A. albums, but my favorite is Barenaked for the Holidays. Good stuff.

Take a listen (and be sure to stick with it, because it just gets better):

Highlights -- and We'll Forget the Lowlights

Life doesn't seem to be slowing down at all, but it's been a great week. The DH and I bought a Christmas tree this weekend in addition to going to two parties with lots of fun friends.

Friday night we went to the famous nacho party hosted by those crazy ice cream eaters. The nachos were great and the green tomatilla salsa was the highlight of my night. Wait -- maybe it was the peppermint bark. Both were very tasty!

On Saturday night, it was the annual Christmas gift exchange at Fred and Cathy's house. We all brought two gifts to exchange and that's just where the fun began. The gifts were funny, irreverant, practical, and everything in between. We left with a purse, a teepot, a spork, and a gnome. Now, that's fun times. I was a little sad when the DH lost the lottery tickets, but we'll live. I like to work anyway.

Sunday we had a wonderful time visiting with another set of friends who live in Lynnwood now. We went to church with them and then had a great pot roast dinner. We got to see their new baby and I even got to have spitup on my shirt. Good times! That evening, we went to a stake Christmas event around the broadcast from the first presidency and Mormon Tabenacle Choir. The presentation was a very nice way to be reminded of the reason for the season and associate with some really nice people. I was in charge of refreshments, so I ordered brownied from QFC and topped some with Andes mint sprinkle. I had a few friends (and tons of help from the DH) to get everything plated and out to the masses. It was an hour of pretty intense work, but everything went off without a hitch. We had exactly 20 brownies left over. How's that for planning? I was pretty happy about it.

Week in Review and Highlights

I've had one crazy week, but it's all behind me now. Here is some of the wackiness:

• I don't even know how many hours I worked last week. Even with the holiday, I know I topped 40. The DH and parents got to hear my conference calls, the BIL got to be part of my meetings, and the whole family saw me watching movies with my laptop always attached. It's ugly when there's a big deadline on December first.
• The DH and I traveled to Boise and go to spend time with my family. We also spent an evening with the Ips and an evening with the Godfreys. They are both great couples that I miss a lot being so far away.
• Thanksgiving dinner was GREAT! My family really can cook and there was too much of everything. It was also great to be in the same room with my entire family, parents, siblings, brothers and sisters in law, and all my nieces and nephews. They're all such wonderful people to be around. I think all the nieces and nephews just keep getting to be more fun too.
• A bunch of the women went to see Australia. I loved it. The cinematography was outstanding and the story moved along nicely. Even at one hour and fourty minutes, it didn't drag for a moment. And of course, I enjoy a good love story. I'd recommend it to anyone interested.
• The DH and I took two nieces to the World Center for Birds of Prey just south of Boise. It was really interesting seeing the different birds and hearing the volunteers there talk about the birds. The birds in the center now are all birds that couldn't make it in the wild.
• Had a great dinner at Flying Pie Pizzaria Gourmet Night with Whitney, Brent, and the girls. They have all you can eat gourmet pizzas in addition to all the regular stuff. YUM! And fun with such good company.
• The DH got to see three football games on Thanksgiving day and watched the BSU/Fresno State game on Friday. I can't say he got his fill of football (because he may never get his fill), but he sure got a good fix.

All in all, it was a great week with a lot of time spent with a great family and some good friends. I miss them already!

Bonding Over the Weekend

The DH and I decided to hit a movie last weekend. We were both excited that we had the same first choice -- Quantum of Solace. It's the next chapter in the ongoing James Bond series. I'll admit to being a Sean Connery fan as far as actors in the part go. Funny that he was the first. I guess he defined the stage presence. Daniel Craig is certainly different from other Bond's, but I've decided I like his ruggedness. I could go for a little more suave, but rugged is good too.

The movie is filled with chase scenes, things blowing up, and people running for their lives. There was a LOT of fire in this one. Overall, the action moved along and I enjoyed the movie. I'd even recommend it to anyone who enjoys an action flick. I've heard criticism that it's not "true" Bond like we've got to know and love, but I thought it worked.

Playing on my iPod This Week (Nov 24) -- Custom Playlists

This week, the DH and I have traveled to Boise. To help move the traveling along faster, the DH put together a custom playlist for me. He's got a real knack for building the playlists. I think it's one of his little known talents. Just so you know how clever he is, the newest playlist starts with the songs Your Song by Elton John and My Song by Brandi Carlile.

Enjoy this!

Highlights -- Better Late Than Later

I usually post highlights on Wednesdays, but that was a busy day and no posting on highlights got done. As you can imagine, Wednesday is included in the highlights though. Here's the good stuff:

• The DH's birthday. I was really excited to get him Photoshop, but now neither of us know what to do with it. I got a book with online tutorials, but that will take some time to learn. Maybe that will be a highlight in a few weeks -- figuring out Photoshop.


• We had fun with the Wright's and Leyland's at Snoose Junction Pizza in Ballard. It's such a great little place with very tasty food and no issues with hollering kids.


• A weekend with very few committments. We went to the ward play, but not much more.


• Hanging with the nephew while the brother and SIL went to her 10th anniversary at Microsoft party. We had dinner at IHOP and the nephew seemed to have a great time.


• Roasted free-range chicken from the DH's sister. She must have been an old bird -- the chicken that is. We had yummy carrots and potatos with it too and it was sure good.


• Hearing the DH talk in church, and our good friend Carolyn. They both did great!


• Home teaching the Neumann's. They're an older couple in our ward from Germany and were teenagers in WWII. They have more interesting stories than you can shake a stick at. We always have a great time visiting with them. They also sure put "trials" in perspective. I never had my friend die while we were working or throw a bomb back out the window after it fell in the kitchen. Seriously. Real stuff.


• Hitting the gym like it's going out of style. I ran a bunch yesterday. Ouch.

I'm sure I've missed some, but those are a few high points.

And here's one I forgot to add last week. The DH asked me to make a bowl cake for one of the guys at work for his birthday. The guy loves to play pool, so we gave him a 9-ball. Fun, huh? The DH said the guys at work thought it was fantastic.

Internet Woes Be Gone!

I'm posting this using my brand new, lightning-speed, cable internet. I haven't tried hooking up the wireless router yet, but at least we have internet again. I'm hopeful that this will be the answer I've been looking for. At least for now, it's a good thing.

Happy Birthday to the DH!

Today, the DH turns 52 -- and most will be surprised, because he really doesn't seem that old in body or spirit. In celebration of the man and his birthday, I was going to write 52 things about him, but decided that was just a bit much. So here is my top-10 list about the DH:

1. He is one handsome man. He doesn't think so, but he's just wrong.
2. He is a great friend. He would give you the shirt of his back if he thought you needed it (and probably has done just that at some point for someone).
3. He is very loyal.
4. He never turns down an opportunity to serve others. I love that he is so willing to give of himself and he's well known for it.
5. He loves me even though I can make it hard sometimes.
6. He makes awesome scrambled eggs and is a really good cook in general. Don't laugh at the good scrambled eggs -- he doctors them up until it's a culinary delight.
7. He supports me in the things that I do, even when some of them mean spending time away from him when he'd rather we were together. Sometimes he even pitches in to help me so he can hang out with me when I'm meeting my commitments.
8. He really cares about the underdog. I get frustrated about it sometimes (when the underdog calls at 7:30 on a Saturday morning), but I'm so impressed with the care he has shown to some of the people who just need someone to root for them.
9. He takes his commitments very seriously. If he says he'll do something, he'll do it.
10. He's strong in body and spirit. He has worked through some major obstacles and come out fighting.

I love the guy and I know I'm not alone. So, here's the shout out to the DH for 52 years!

I Love the Library

As a child, I loved to go to the library. I remember spending cool summer days in the basement of the old library. The children's section was downstairs and you had to go through a separate entrance to get to the lower level. I don't think I ever saw the main level. It was an old Carnegie library and I loved it.

I don't know when I first started to read, but I'm pretty sure my love affair with reading started very early on. I always wanted to take home a big stack of books and then we had rules about how many books we were allowed to check out. I think my limit was five books.

In elementary school, for a while, we went to the library once a week. I loved going and I can still remember the smell. Then we'd go once a month on Monday for family home evening. The books were all checked out for a month, so the whole family would gather up our library books and head to the library to get more. Oh, the trauma for everyone when one of us couldn't find all of our books! Even though the fees were small, they seeme huge to us as children.

I also remember being part of the summer reading program for several summers at the library. I think one summer, it was a Jr. Great Books reading club and I was introduced to many new and different genre and authors. I ate it up. I can still remember staying up reading until far into the wee hours to finish books before they were due or before I went back the next time.

I loved the Boise Public Library and still do. It's been a few years since I've been there since I relocated, but I still have so many great memories of my library there. I had a library card from before I could remember and finally got rid of it several years after moving to Seattle.

I've been in Seattle for eight years now, and just this weekend, I finally got a library card. The Seattle Public Library system is fantastic and I've been meaning to do it for years. Now I've finally got it!