What happened to Christmas?

The night before Christmas I attempted to log on to noradsanta.org to check Santa's location while I was holding a cup of coffee. The balancing act was not successful so I now have on my desk a dead computer upsidedown in an attempt to drain out the coffee-drenched keyboard. I can't think of all the important junk I have lost if the keyboard doesn't dry out and startup. Just thinking of the 515 Soltaire wins with only 8 lost games makes me devastated.

My mom apparently fell out of bed and ended up with a broken wrist last week. She now has a pretty blue cast on her arm and isn't aware there's anything wrong with that. She is very surprised several times a day when she is reminded that she has a broken wrist. She had a great time at the clinic getting her cast as the team there liked to tease her about how her wrist got broken by asking if she was dancing on the tables.

The week before Christmas was busy with meetings of old friends. The highlight of the week had to be taking Lucas to Coeur d'Alene to travel by boat to Santa's Northpole workshop. The roads that evening were slick ice but nothing could stop Claire and I from seeing the Northpole and the grandson's reaction to it. We slid carefully to the boat dock and back for the 45 minute ride to hear Santa read Lucas' name on the nice list. Next year we'll be on the boat earlier before the ice forms.

Your Christmas with Hank's son, Richard, sounds so nice. You enjoy that couple so much and will have fun watching the grandson. I was beside myself with a Christmas letter from you. That simple "Love,Judy" on your card was something I could always complain about.

Claire and I are at Cyd's this week. I am babysitting while the others get birthday supplies for the John Deere party Saturday when the twins turn two. Hope you have a Happy New Year.

There were 3 in the bed

We had a slumber party at Grandma’s last night as Brett and Anna Marie attended an all night office party, sort of. The boys are getting easier to manage since Miles does everything to match Lucas’ moves. I wasn’t sure how the sleepover would go with Miles as he sleeps in his crib at home but we all managed eight hours of sleep with only an occasional foot in my side.

You can see they are busy with the snow and the Christmas tree but they did not rip open any gifts yet. I often sing parts of Christmas carols like “You better not shout, you’d better not pout” and “He sees you when you’re sleeping” just to remind them of what’s at stake here.

Claire and I are flying to Cyd’s on Christmas morning and we’ll stay for the twins’ second birthday. I’m resting up so I can try to keep up with Peyton and Walker.

Will it be Pat and Stan’s for Christmas or is their remodeling still in progress? Maybe you and Hank will be in church Christmas Eve.
Oprah is bringing out the Obama fans!

Graduation

This is the wrong time for a graduation but when Kristen gets her civil engineering degree it is time to celebrate. I suppose you remember she is Linda’s niece and Aileen’s daughter from Anchorage who has been attending the University of Idaho for the past 4 and a half years.

Last week I had my WSU friend from 1963 come through town on her way to Palo Alto and she spent the night along with her bouvier, Higgins with Linda and Becky, Linda’s sister. It was great having company and we visited with my grandsons before we left for Moscow. Aileen and her husband were left on the tarmac in Anchorage for quite a while but finally joined us later that evening after missing the professional awards.

The following day we attended the graduation and then attempted to keep up with the college crowd at John’s Alley Bar. All I learned was that you must wear a knitted skullcap to be really with it on campus. That and it’s still very good to have fake I. D. except if you’re on Medicare.

Aileen and Darrel stayed with me until yesterday morning as they are planning on leaving Anchorage for Spokane! It is the time to buy a house but while we looked for an afternoon they didn’t find just the right home. We did look at the Eco Depot for good ideas to retrofit Al Gore approved standards to any existing house. I still like them even with these Democratic ideals and the fact that they tried to get me to watch Sicko. I stalled them on that one.

Barb and I worked on Christmas cookies yesterday and made plans to attend a Zags game together in January. I won’t watch much of the game but thought Lucas should get into the sport of booing and cheering. That’s where you could teach us a thing or two I know.

Your new volunteer position at the Shedd Aquarium sounds very entertaining and will keep you busy one more day a week. I followed your advice and got the Costco Poinsettia also. Anna Marie borrowed it for a Judo party at their house the other day.
I have a small tree but I’m disappointed as it has no fragrance. It must have been cut last July.

December Arrives

The lights are up outside, the gifts are purchased and now the socializing can begin. Of course, I still need a tree but that will be next week. Today Miles is two years old and he is some boy even if the Grandma has to say so. He had an eye exam under anesthesia on Thursday and his vision is good. He’ll be switching to contacts again and they’ll see how that goes with keeping them in his eyes. He’s a big talker so he should be able to notify someone when he loses a contact so the search can begin.

Yesterday I took my mom to the Festival of Trees at the Davenport Hotel. We did a quick 20 minute tour after lunch and when we returned to her room, she insisted that she had missed dinner and continued to ask for food. (We left right after lunch and returned maybe an hour later.) Yes, after almost a year I believe she is in a good place and I’m pleased that she’s there.

Here we are at the Santa Breakfast this morning and later we will have a quiet Thomas the Train birthday party. Miles will have an overnight at Grandma’s during which she will attempt to keep the house clean for her investment club luncheon on Monday. Somehow I feel the newly shampooed carpets will be vulnerable to Miles’ exuberant antics no matter how vigilant I am. At the same time Lucas will have a special outing with his parents so that may help to keep things even now that, more than ever, Miles is a reckoning force.

Do you have your JOY on the wall ready to hold your Christmas cards?