Raincharm’s Weblog

2011 is almost in the books.
I went to work today, for almost an entire 8 hours.
I escaped early so I could spend a few more hours with Rey.

We did go through Rey’s clothes last night.
As compared with Ashlan – 2 boxes for Selling, a few items thrown away, and 1 box to Keep.
And the boxes were easily closed.
Not worthy of a picture.

This afternoon we went through the non-clothes stuff and got about two boxes of things (books mostly) that can go to new homes.

He will be off early in the AM, and then it is our turn to start paring down.
Also to go back through their boxes so they make sense for moving to their next destination.

Rey is out with friends for the evening.
Hope he has fun, and can get up in the AM.

I took a vacation day today. Mostly.
One small moment on-line to work to get an e-mail out the door.

Other than that it was pretty much a day at home.
Unfortunately, Rey & Carl are both a bit under the weather, so there was not much drive to get out and about. Ashlan was feeling fit, and since she is leaving (as I write I imagine she it getting onto the plane) my plans for the day focused on her.

That meant doing the crosswords without her (she was still in bed).
But then it meant filling out some paperwork, while she was in town.

And then …. the big room pack.
Now, we did not really pack up the room, but we did do a lot of sorting.
There is still a lot to go through, but we made major progress.

Ashlan's Room

Mostly we went through things that arrived back from school.
And clothes gathered over many years. And shoes. And shoes. And shoes.

The sort choices were 1) Keep, 2) Sell, 3) Throw away.
If you look at the picture you will not see the Throw away bags, which were dragged downstairs.
The boxes on the bed are Sell.
The pile to the left of the bed is Keep. (about 1/3 the size of sell)
There is more out of camera range, but this gives an idea of what we did accomplish.

The not gone through stuff includes a lot of course work from college.
There are also books (will not sell), and magazines (destined for throw away).

And there are the notebooks in the bottom drawer that I have been instructed to keep, and not read.

Heck, I just went through a personnel issue at work, where I had access to all sorts of paperwork, and I did not read any of it. ETHICs.

So – now it is Rey’s turn at the sorting Mom.
And he is ready, but his room is much less daunting.

At least for me – and only part time this week.
For a slow week, it was pretty busy. Perhaps aiming at a 1/2 day made it so.
Although I did end up staying a bit beyond my self-appointed departure time.
This was set so I would have more time with the family while they are in town.

So, where is the family?
The kids are off at a movie, with one of Ashlan’s Vancouver friends. (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.)
Carl is off grocery shopping. On the list – split pea soup makings to go with our ham bone.
I am here, and as long as I am here, I may finish some unfinished work that is due tomorrow.

But before I did that I put together one of this year’s Some Assembly Required gifts.
It is fun for what it is.
Soccer in the off-season.
And yes, the players at midfield have their backs to the ball when the kickoff is taken.
But, like many tables, the ball doesn’t usually stay stock still in the middle.

Carl won the opening game, and scored the first goal.

Foosball Mini

In which we venture out into the crowds.

We actually ventured on foot.
The day started a bit slowly, and then picked up steam.
There were two specific locations that were on our list today, and they were only about 1 block apart.
So we headed downtown. Probably 4.5 miles to reach the first location.

Potbelly Sandwich Shop.
[Ashlan misses her work, or rather her daily food ration. She did note the one difference between the Seattle store and the New York stores is the addition of a “Compost” selection to the “Trash” and “Recycle” choices.]
Then it was off to Aldos. I have never heard of this store, but apparently many have.
Unfortunately, the boots Ashlan was intent on buying were not in stock in Seattle.
The closest pair was in Salt Lake City.
So she will wait until returning to NYC to claim a pair. (Black or Brown – the tension mounts.)

Ashlan & Jay chose to bus home, while Carl and Rey decided they would walk some more.
However, after an additional 3-3/4 miles, they called for a ride.
It could have been either Carl’s knees or the rain that convinced them of this move.
I will admit that their additional mileage included some rather steep hills (Queen Anne),
so I picked them up at the Fremont Troll, which was bustling with people.

All home for now, and figuring out what to do with the ham for this evening.

Tonight will also include working on the Christmas Card (for those that are wondering where they are).
We had to wait for the kids to get home together to get a picture.
And for the few that got cabin plates – here are the before and after shots.

Christmas day is well near the end.
It has been a good day all-in-all.

We started by sleeping in. At least by Christmas morning standards.
I am sure everyone has an extremely early rising story associated with young children.
I remember Pooh & I getting up, dressed, and then waking up Mom and Dad, at about 4:30 AM.
We were sent back to bed. For the years after that I think we were given a 7 AM time for getting up.
I believe we had a similar occurrence in our house, although I have a hard time remembering the details.

Breakfast included the cream cheese twist Ashlan & I retrieved from Larson Bakery yesterday.
And coffee.

Then it was to the tree and presents.
I believe everyone was well satisfied. A short fashion show for a few of the items.

Next up was making the pumpkin pie.
It all started out so innocently. Mixing the pumpkin filling, rolling out the dough, and laying the crust in the pie plate. Pouring the filling into the crust. Looking at it closely and thinking, “Something is not right.”
Checking out the recipe, I realized the milk had not been added.
We attempted to put the filling back into the bowl, but this meant sacrificing the crust.
And finding a store that was open to get the milk. (Yeah – found one.)
But then there was not time to finish the pie before we went out to see a movie.

Movie = Tin Tin.
It was a worthy movie. I’ll give it 4 stars.
The kids read the Tin Tin books when they were young, and felt the movie stayed pretty true to the book.

Home again, and this time finished the pie adventure.
This was quickly followed by dinner preparations.

Christmas pales by comparison to Thanksgiving preparations at our house.
Ham instead of Turkey, and many fewer side dishes. But food is not the main point.

So we are into the evening. And the pie.
Time is winding down, and we are happily discussing the days events.

tomorrow? Probably heading downtown for boxing day.
If we are successful we will post a picture or two.

For Christmas of course.
But that does not mean we did not have things to do, and easily find ways to fill our time.

Carl & Rey delivered some packages, and did most of the final food shopping.
Ashlan & Jay walked over to Larson Brothers Bakery to get some rolls and goodies for breakfast. About 8-9 miles on a beautiful day.

We then all saw parts of the Seahawks losing to some other team. (They could have won, but …) Laundry, showers, and now we are off to visit with some friends.

So I will leave you with this. Totally non-Christmas. See any resemblance?

Ball Boys

Some things have not changed.
They “fight” for the place in front of the heater vent, and call me the Keeper of the Ice Cave.
[What is funny, is that I think my mother keeps their house really cold.]

They also complain about having their picture taken.

But they don’t have the focus to keep paying attention to me.

I think the shopping has been completed, so we can all relax and spend some time together now. Weather permitting we may try and walk for some Christmas treats (Larson Bros. Bakery)

Christmas Tree 2011

Carl worked Monday-Wednesday, with a smidgen on Thursday.
Jay worked all week, but short days for the last few.

Today’s highlight was buying the Christmas ham.
Honeybaked Ham that is.

In our fair metropolitan area that means going to the Bellevue store, figuring out how to get into a parking spot while surrounded by many other cars and people intent on the same task. The store is in a small storefront surrounded by very expensive car dealers, a ski tune-up store, and something else. There is a US Bank close by, with a tow truck at the ready.

The line was not too long today, probably 40 minutes in all.
But it will be worth it. Met a nice woman from New York City (originally – been here for 25 years). The line is always a good place to make at least one acquaintance. I should have been keeping track over all these years. It might make a good story if they were all pieced together.

Taste of India for dinner.
Only 9 o’clock and both kids are out.
I think this has more to do with Eastern time zone than our running them ragged.

And the holiday isn’t really here yet.
But we have done a few distinctly holiday events.

• Wrapping presents
• Sending packages
• 1st visit to Candy Cane Lane (in the car, with the slow procession)
• Watched Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol
• Put up the tree (lights only at this point)

We also spent the last few days hanging out with Eugene friends.
This got us out to the Space Needle, EMP (Experience Music Project), Archie McPhees, and general hanging about.

There is still house stuff to get done before the kids arrive home.
Ashlan sent a few shots of Christmas in NYC.

Rey called from Michigan where he is hanging with family following a wedding of friends.

In a few days they will all be home, and things will get even wilder, or maybe quieter.

I don’t have much interesting to say, but yesterday had a great sunrise.
I was not driving, so I was able to take a few pictures.
There was also a great sunset, but I missed the picture from the office, and by the time I was on the road, the sun was long since down.

Rey was telling me of rain in Tennessee, and I commented on how dry we were – just a lot of fog.
Of course, Rey had to point out the oxymoron that I was for making that statement with a straight face.
This winter (December) has been amazingly dry.
As in, not raining.

Without the clouds that hold the rain our short days have not seemed quite as short as normal. Most years by now it is dark on arrival and work and dark when leaving, and frequently dark much of the day. I have to admit, I am OK with this pattern.

I did drive today, but no great sunrise, so I was not tempted to find the phone for a picture.

(Until 8 or so)
After that it was pedal to the metal.
That is to say we started working, and kept at it.

The busy time actually started the night before.
We got together with a few friends and walked around Green Lake.
This was the special night where they (volunteers) put luminaires around the entire lake.
They were expecting 10,000 folks. (So I hear.)
There were many, many folks. The not raining always helps, and it was a fairly dry night.

Then it was out to dinner at a sort-of new restaurant. (The Olympic)
I had never been to the restaurant, even though it is just a few blocks away.
In fact, it had to be rebuilt after a fire.
As it turns out, I had been to its sister restaurant (The Olympic II)several times, most frequently as part of pizza parties at the end of soccer seasons.
I had a lamb shank with delectable potatoes, lemon chicken soup and a salad. Carl had greek lasagna (with spinach), there were a few pizzas and another lasagna to round out the repast.
This ended with our friends presenting Carl with an unexpected “gift”. Payment for the daycare he had provided earlier. He knew about the delayed payment, but we had both forgotten about it. A nice surprise.

So after getting out of the warmth of bed, Carl buckled down to complete the final for his computer class. I am not sure he is literate (computer), but he has come an amazing way from the start of the semester.

I buckled down to the task of wrapping presents, especially those that must head east.

Finally it was time.
Time to face – THE MALL.
And we were off. (In the car for the first time this weekend)

We went late afternoon on a Sunday, so we hoped that most shoppers would be tired out from the weekend, and kids would be demanding dinner. The mall was not empty, but it was not over-crowded either. We traipsed from end-to-end on our journey, and in the end found what we had gone for.

Then it was home to drop our prizes, and off to the Green Lake School Christmas Tree lot.
We had about 45 minutes to spare before their posted closing time.
We did OK. Not quite a Charlie Brown tree. And a wreath to boot.
There have been years when we picked from the last 6 trees on the lot. In fact, they were not on the “lot” anymore, but propped against the fence for anyone to take. Carl, however, went inside the school and made a donation to the PTA.

The tree has been installed in the stand, but I think that is as far as it will get tonight. (Water has been added.)

So all in all it has been a busy, but basically productive day.
That said, there were so many things on my weekend to-do list that did not get touched.