Goin' to California

It would be a good name for a song and Richard didn't bring his banjo.
Our flight to southern California was only slightly eventful. In Juneau we were delayed for 2 de-icings (we had too long of a delay after the first), and then in Ketchikan we were just delayed. We still got to Seattle in plenty of time, but the plane coming for us to get on was delayed so we were abit late getting out of there. We still got to Long Beach only a few minutes late, but had one of our suitcases delayed for two days. It was nice to have Meg and Charles as old as they are. They sat with each other and got along wonderfully. Richard's flight from Salt Lake City into LAX was on time and easy. We brought D'Artagnan with us instead of having him kenneled in Sitka. He survived very nicely.

First Dog Hair Cut

As much as we loved D'Artagnan's wavy curls we decided to have him clipped. This came about for a couple of reasons. One.. the snow really liked his fur and would clump in it. You couldn't just pull it out so it would have to melt out... all over the floor. Second... with our trip to California for Christmas we figured he would be easier to maintain with going to the beach than with long hair. So here is our puppy before and after... Now he looks more like a hound dawg.

Puppy Pillow

I tried for years to use our old dog.. Heidi.. as a pillow. She would never hold still for more than 2 seconds. Now I have found a nice fluffy pillow in D'Artagnan. He has been really good in letting me put my head on him. He does tend to be quite passive as long as someone is scratching, petting, or paying him any attention. He had to go to the vet this week for an ear problem and an eye infection. He now weighs 82 lbs. and is just 8 and 1/2 months old. The vet was amazed that he sit so still for an ear procedue where he has to pull tufts of hair out of his ears.

A Strange Mystery

Meg and Charles attended a surprise birthday party for a friend which was a mystery party. All were given characters to be and scripts to go by. Meg was a b%#@hy gothic chick while Charles was an extra smart nerd. The party apparently went great and they had a great time. I would have hated something like that as role-playing is not my thing. This is why they excel in the drama competitions.

Christmas Puppy

D'Artagnan was kind enough to pose next to our little Christmas tree. Since we won't be here for Christmas we opted for a small tree.. still smells good though.

Sadie Hawkins Dance

Sitka High had a Sadie Hawkins dance on the 9th where the girls were supposed to ask the guys. Meg had a friend from Wrangell visiting and staying with us and she went with Chase. Their group included one of Meg's friends... Amy and her date... Finn as well as Charles who was going stag. The had an informal dinner before the dance at our house before heading over to the school.

Meg's Concert

OK, it isn't referred to as a Christmas concert, but this isn't about PC. Meg sang in two groups on Monday last(11th). First with the vocal jazz group and then with the regular choir. She loves singing and is very good. While in Italy she took voice lessons. In addition to helping her singing the lessons... being in Italian... helped with the language as well. That was one thing that we really missed when Meg was gone... someone singing something all the time. She is always sing show tunes, operas, whatever is in her head at the time. We always have music playing during dinner and there is a rule that there is no singing with the music. Now, who is the one that is much more likely to break that rule? Yeah, Meg. She just can't help it sometimes... or that is what she claims. One side benefit of her singing so much is that she is not in a bad mood and is smiling when doing so. I don't think it is possible to sing, hum, or whistle and feel bad.

My Sudoku Habit

Hi, my name is Rick and I am a Sudokuholic. It's not my fault though. My daughter introduced me to the things, got me hooked, and now I can't stop!!! HELP!!!

Dramatic enough? Wouldn't win in a Drama/Debate meet for sure. Well, I do like these puzzles and I can give them up any time.. and have, but they sure are addicting. I have decided to stick with the easy ones as my poor head hurts trying to do the harder puzzles. I guess I just like to get through them and not be frustrated. They are great for all the flying we do from Sitka as well as fillers in between patients.

Halo "Party"

No, this isn't a bunch of angels getting together. It was Meg and Charles with 4 friends playing one of the most popular video games. The friends brought the X-Boxes and the game. 2 of them played on the TV while the other 4 had theirs' hooked up to our projector which shines on the wall. They had a good time and of course we provided food for them... that is SOP (standard operating procedure) in our house. They didn't eat much so they must have been more worried about their game rather than their stomachs.

Holiday Traditions

Most everyone has some kind of Christmas traditions. Even the infamous Ebeneezer Scrooge had a tradition of hating the holiday. So for good or bad we all have something that this time of year brings out in us.

Christmas music is popular in our family. Lori and Anneka would start listening(off and on at least) to it in August and by Halloween I was so burned out that I could scream! After Meg was born we came up with a nice compromise. Meg's birthday is 21 November. It will always be 1-6 days before Thanksgiving. We decided that this would be the start of our holiday season. On that day we can listen to the music, decorate, have eggnog, turn on the house lights, etc. Some years we are fully decorated for Christmas on Thanksgiving, other times we are barely listening to Christmas music. Our season lasts until New Year's day when everything goes away (except the eggnog... that stays until the stores don't carry it... for me anyway).

The Christmas lights for the outside of the house are something I brought to the family. We use only Red/Green/Blue lights and never the mini lights, rope lights, or icicle lights. This is something my parents have done as long as I remember. I try and get the lights up before the weather gets bad, but some years I've been on a ladder in the snow and the cold.

We also follow a common tradition of getting pajamas on Christmas Eve. In addition, we have been giving the kids a new video to watch that night.

We do various cookies under Lori's tutalege. Our favorites are thumb-print cookies and peanut butter with a choc. Kiss. I have become the pie maker doing(usually) my own crusts. Pumpkin, mince(my mom and I will be the only one's eating that this year), apple, and pecan are my specialties. Lori makes a breakfast on Christmas morning with pecans, coconut frosting, rolls and nuts the the kids alway look forward to having.

Our Christmas tree gets its first ornament put on my me. A styrofoam candy cane that has been mine for almost(or over) 40 years goes on first. We have collected many "mice" themed ornaments over the years. Lori had a nickname of "house-mouse" as a child and developed an interest in little cute mice things. When Hallmark introduced several series of mice ornaments I would give Lori as many as I could on her birthday in August. We could do a whole tree with just mice.

Tonight is the first Sunday in December and therefore the night we watch "A Charlie Brown Christmas"