Merry Christmas

The whole gang in Dad's snowy backyard. It was cold!!!

Every year Al buys me a Santa for my collection. This big guy was a total surprise.

The kid's stocking. Jana & AJ's are their originals.

Hope your day was wonderful!

More Pretty Pictures

Beautiful black crows sitting on frozen tree limbs in our backyard.

Looking south down our street.

Our house @ 9:00 this morning.

AJ's car.

Cabin Fever Begins To Set In

It's hard to see, but the thickness of the branches is all ice.

Al loads up the bird feeder. Happy jays and chickadees.

Guitar Hero fills the bill when the walls start closing in.

The Arctic Blast just keeps on comin'. After record snowfall and below freezing temps yesterday, today has been an interesting whether day. It was dry all morning, then a bit of freezing rain fell, then some more snow, and then ice ice baby. Here in the Northwest, ice storms are called a Silver Thaw, even tho nothing is thawing. It's really pretty but it's also the harbinger of bad things to come. As the ice is so much heavier than snow, the weight of it breaks branches off of trees and downs powerlines. No power in these temps isn't very much fun. And a big ol' pine branch crashing down on your roof can be a very effective hole punch. Also not so much fun. Thankfully we've not had any problems other than being house bound today. We're keeping our fingers crossed.

Rounds Three & Four

Today, after my morning at Maryanne's salon, we headed over to Target to return some items that we bought last night. I couldn't resist taking a picture of the front of the house. Maryanne and Al are somewhere behind all the flakes of snow.

Maryanne & AJ have an all-wheel drive Suburu so they have done most of the driving during the worst of the storms.

Yesterday we awoke to a Winter Wonderland. This was the deepest snow yet. The backyard was completely covered with beautiful powdery snow, the grasses were bent under the weight of it and the roads were sheets of ice. If you don't have to travel far, or up any steep inclines, you can really enjoy the amazingly gorgeous scenery.

Round Two

The deep freeze continues here in the valley. As you can see, we have about 4" on the fence and birdhouse. It's still really pretty because we got a fresh dusting this afternoon that covered up all the dirty spots. Tomorrow and Friday are supposed to be dicey again with Saturday being the worst of the worst. I feel so bad for all the merchants that were hoping the holidays would help their businesses. There have been some people out (including me) but for the most part people are enjoying the snow from inside some warm cozy place. I'm still holding out for a White Christmas.

A White Christmas May Not Be A Dream

Yesterday afternoon an Arctic Express whether system rolled through the Northwest. As I finished up my Christmas cards I watched as snow piled up on the patio and trees in the backyard. It was so pretty. Snow usually doesn't stick around long but this system may well be here till Christmas. Normally I would relax and enjoy the lovely scenery BUT I'M NOT DONE SHOPPING YET! With temps in the low 20s and a wind chill in single digits, with more snow predicted for Wednesday and freezing rain coming over the weekend we may have to have Christmas in January.

One Step Closer to the Big Move

Last week, as AJ was slammin' his final work on his Master's degree, and Maryanne was resting her pregnant body, Al and I did 3 marathon painting sessions @ Jana & JJ's. The colors they chose are gorgeous and even without any finish work or furniture, the place looks wonderful. In my opinion, paint is one of man's greatest inventions. It can transform a room with so little effort and so little expense. I know that Jana & JJ are excited to make the big move downstairs to their master bedroom suite, home theater, office, & laundry room. It's going to be quite a delightful space for them!

Don't Mess With The USPS

Al & I were out of town this past weekend and no one picked up our mail on Friday (which included Thanksgiving day) or Saturday. On Sunday, AJ opened our box to find a curt notice saying that the postman had stopped delivery on our mail because our box was full and that we should pick up our mail ASAP or it would be "returned to sender". So this afternoon I went by the mail warehouse, used the secret knock to get into the place (911 paranoia) and was greeted by a snippy 20 something postal worker. After a very stern lecture on stopping mail service when I leave town, I was told to wait and the half door was closed in my face. Several minutes later, postal worker returned, handed me my mail and said in her cranky shaming voice, "that's a lot of mail". Dah! That's why it wouldn't fit in the mail box. So I get a lot of mail... sue me! Anyway, I juggled my stack of catalogs, magazines, bills and flyers into the car and headed home wondering all the while why it's called "going postal" when someone goes crazy in a public place.

Lots to be Thankful For

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We had a small gathering this year but just the right mix of poeple. Maryanne & AJ were in Bend with her folks, Jana & JJ were at the coast with his folks so we ended up hosting Dad, Marek & Suzie, Shane, Rhonda, Lauran, Lyndan, Susan & Nick, Sarah, Daniel & Josh. It was so much fun to have such a wide range of ages. The house was bursting with great food, stories & laughter and lots of energy. We are so grateful for for such terrific friends and family. And we're so grateful that our kids have fabulous in-laws that they enjoy spending time with. Thanks, God!

Holiday Dinner

Every year our church puts on an outreach dinner for the women of the church. The idea is for women to invite their friends and neighbors and family that don't have a church home to a fancy dinner to kick off the holidays. Each evening, 32 women decorate a holiday themed table using their own supplies and creativity. It is a spectacular event and every table has a different feel to it. In years past, my Dad has done a table and to this day has the distiction of being the only man to contribute. He used Mom's Christmas dishes then built a tiny wooden Christmas village with a tiny wooden train looped around it for the centerpiece. It was so darling and the women went crazy over it and him. This year he didn't participate so I enlisted him to help me. And if I do say so myself, I think we did an awesome job. For the centerpiece I used 7 dozen white carnations stuck into a ball of florist oasis. I picked up the tin bucket at Michael's. Dad cut apart little lime green and red beads that he sprinked over the white flowers for a very Christmas-y effect. I used my red Fiestaware dishes and some placemats that I bought on sale last year and away we went. It's a fun event that I look forward to every year.

Biological Warfare or...

hanging insulation in Jana & JJ's basement. YOU be the judge.

Don't Be Afraid

Get Your Flu Shot!

Christmas Before Thanksgiving

Gingerbread House

Santa & his Elves

Ice Apples, shortbread cookies, cranberry punch and lots of pointsettias

Every year at about this time, our favorite nursery kicks off the holidays with their Festival of Lights. It all Christmas all the time. Wonderful trees and pointsettias and glorious decorations. Last night Mayanne, Al and I (AJ was too pooped to put up with stuff he doesn't like...shopping & decorating) enjoyed an evening of holiday cheer. We bought a few things but nothing earth shaking. Today, it's back in to Thanksgiving mode as I go on a quest for a decorative turkey. As I have been looking for over a week without success, I've come to realize that Thanksgiving is being relegated to the little blip after Halloween and before Christmas. It's kind of sad.

God Bless America

Election 2008. What an exciting night! What amazing times we live in! How far our country has come in our 232 short years! Regardless of who you voted for, you've got to admit that electing a black man as President is an historic event. We vote by mail here in Oregon so we don't get to go to the polls. I so enjoyed watching on TV as people spent hours in line to cast their vote. No one was standing over the ballot boxes with guns. No one had to sneak in to vote in order to avoid persecution. All registered voters, regardless of race, religion or status could have their say. We can trust that our system works, flaws and all. I really do pray that God blesses America. We had a small election party here last night and as Jana watched the returns with us, she was so thrilled for her students who have engaged in the election process like never before. How fantastic for those minority children who can now say, "I really can be whatever I want to be. I do have a voice. I can be heard". I'm sure there's a party goin' on in Mrs Avison's 6th grade classroom this morning.

Habitat for Humanity Trickery

The Recruiting Poster. Ha!

The families that will get a brand new house. They put in 500 hours of sweat equity.

The Gracia's new home.

This week, Habitat for Humanity is building 2 houses here in Salem. I was recruited to help in the hospitality tent...right up my alley. Of course I said yes to a 4 hour shift serving coffee and pizza, checking construction guys in & out and doing general hostessing duties. However, in reality, when you show up at a work site for Habitat, YOU WORK! My co-"hostess" and I pushed wheelbarrows around cleaning up after crazy messy construction workers. At first it wasn't too bad, just picking up papercups, empty boxes, and empty caulking tubes. We got the place looking extremely good. Then we found where the left over siding was thrown and our ordeal began. Did you know that siding is mage od concrete and that it's very heavy? Yikes! Being the psycho cleaner that I am (so was my partner) we worked to get every piece of siding picked up and thrown in the dumpster. Needless to say, I'm pooped! But it's a good pooped. Two dear families will have lovely homes and I had a tiny part in helping. If you ever get a chance to volunteer with Habitat, do it. They are amazing!

Meet Tucker

After we got home from the beach on Saturday, Don & Cheri headed to Vancouver WA to pick up their new baby. On their way back to Jefferson they stopped here to show us Tucker, an 8 week old purebred Sheltie. He's a tiny boy so he is not show quality. But because they only wanted him for a pet, they got a relatively good deal on him. He's a doll and even from the first, he was a gentleman and slept through the night. It will be fun to watch him grow up.

Is It Really The End of October?

It's hard to believe that we are approaching the first of November. Usually by now our days are dark and rainy and windy. Fall = blustery. However, we are enjoying spring-like whether here in the valley and even at the coast. This weekend, Don & Cheri Suklis celebrated their 23rd anniversary. It's been a challenging year for them but they have worked hard and can see a little light at the end of their very dark tunnel. On Friday the four of us headed over to Lincoln City for a couple of days of R&R. And we really did R&R. We did some shopping at the outlet mall and that was the extent of our vigorous activity. We took a long drive up the coast to some places we'd never been before and enjoyed some gorgeous Oregon scenery. We ate at the Pelican in Pacific City and then headed back to the house to watch a video of a comedian Don & Cheri discovered. His name is Jim Geffigan and his video is called "Beyond the Pale". He is very pale skinned, has extremely light strawberry blonde hair and light blue eyes- making the video title very appropo. He is also hilarious. Anyway, this morning Al got fresh donuts and we lazed around till lunch time when we headed to Mo's for clam chowder and garlic toast. Yum. After a run through Starbucks, we drove home and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing. Ahhhhhh!

New England's Got Nothin' On Us

We are having a magnificent Autumn. I took this picture near Al's office.

It's so neat that you don't have to go out in the country to get such wonderful color.

Bright blue skys, a setting sun and lovely yellow trees reflect on the Willamette.

IT'S A BOY!

The ultra-sound left no doubt that it's a boy!

The fabulous hosts of the party.

Lots of blue presents.

On Friday afternoon, Maryanne and AJ had the ultra-sound that would tell them lots of good things about their baby, including it's sex. That evening, Jana & Lauren hosted a reveal party for all of us so we could get the news at the same time. Jana made delicious homemade pizza and bread sticks, Lauren made a wonderful salad and I brought cake. Excitement was running high when AJ and MA finally showed up. They kept us in suspense till we sat down to dinner. After a 6 to 2 vote in favor of a boy, they revealed that their first child is indeed a baby boy. YaHoo!!! After dinner & before dessert, we surprised them with baby boy gifts (all of us purchased boy and girl things just to be on the safe side). It was so much fun! I'll keep you posted as things proceed.

Just Another Day at the Office

On Frday, Al treated all of us girls in the office to a "spa day". He held down the fort while we were wisked away in style to an afternoon of pampering. Sara had an earlier appointment so she met us at there.

It was LaVerne's first ride in a limo.

Maryanne showing off her pretty toes. And no that's not a beer!


LaVerne and I enjoying our pedi. And yes that is wine!


Sara soaking before she gets all pretty in pink.

What you don't see are the massages and facials. It sort of spoils the ambience to have someone burst in and take a picture. All in all we had a grand time together. Don't we have a nice boss?

Construction Update

Monday morning the giant back hoe took aim at the office driveway. Tuesday morning with a 15 foot hole between the area where we're allowed to park and the front door, Maryanne & I had to squeeze up against a wall and gently scoot around the abyss...in heels no less! The street situation has become so challenging that when clients call, we tell them to either stay home or prepare for an obstacle course, hard hat required, or take care of business over the phone. This whole process has been an education in patience and flexibility. The good news is...new sewers by the end of the month.

Marathon Man

The day before the race the course map was posted at the Portland Hilton.

He picked up his bib and timing chip, bought a Portland Marathon cap and we were off to meet Maryanne & her sister

Christy for an evening in the city.

14 minutes after the gun, Al reaches the start line.

The timing chip on his shoe started at that point.

The weather was warm but rainy, the 7,000+ participants

were pumped and ready to go, the bands were playing and

there was still energy enough to wave.

Mile 21 was up hill and under the Freemont Bridge.

By this time, Al was drenched to the bone and getting

pretty tired. I met him at this point for a hug and a kiss

and I'm sure that's what got him to the end. The balloon bouquets

signaled upcoming bathrooms.

Big Al surprised himself and finished faster than his goal of 7.5 hours.

His official time was 6.36. Yea Al!

As he crossed the finish line I handed him his drug of choice; a white chocolate, extra pump, 170 degree mocha from Starbucks which he downed in one swallow. The solar blanket allowed his sweaty body to cool down slowly. He was soaking wet from the 6.5 hours of rain. He was also given a baby fir tree tp plant as a reminder of his awesome accomplishment.

The gold medal winner...tired but so happy with himself. He faithfully trained for 5 months and exceeded his goal by 1.5 hours. Way to go Big Al! We are all so proud of you!