As The Year Draws To A Close

I was trying to decide how to cap off the year and went online and found three different graphics that really summed up this day as we ring out the old and welcome 2014.  Tonight Damon and I are staying in which is fine with me.  Will be watching different firework displays from around the world via CNN and if you want to get an early jump here is a link to Australia's display.  If you go there you can see other major cities across Asia.

This evening we will finish up the turkey casserole I made last night which was quite good.  But that will be on the early side as we have pickled asparagus and shrimp to feast on as midnight draws near.  A bottle of sparkling wine is chilling and may even dip into the salmon pate that Markie gave me for Christmas.

It was a year ago today that I returned to doing this blog and it has been an interesting year.  This gives perspective when you go in and look back and see all the things that have happened not only to me, but various events and comments on things that have happened.  There are times that I have fallen behind, but hey life happens.  What I do know is that it has been fun to go and find images that tell a story with what I have to share.  I wish all those who read this a very Happy New Year!

Manic Monday

Seriously, this has got to be one of the weirdest and craziest Mondays I have had in a long while.  From the moment I walked in the office this day it has been non-stop.  Phones going crazy and staff in a real bad mood.  Customers are all in a dither and tomorrow is New Year's Eve so they just must get signed up for the parties.  We have signed up over 80 people today for the parties around the country. 

Mark has been in rare form and demanding from all the senior staff items that are just not something you pull out of the hat.  Oh and he "wants them by the end of the day."  That is one of his new favorite sayings.  Well, there are some things that just take a while longer.  I was really getting proud of myself in that I have been taking time to eat lunch and today, that went out the window.  Not going back into the old pattern.  Need to pause for lunch.

Thankful that there is not a whole lot planned for this evening.  Going to stop and pick-up some prescriptions and then head for home.  Not sure what is going to be on the menu this evening.  Thinking chicken and asparagus.  Hope your Monday was a tad better than mine.  Have a good night.

Seahawks Insanity

Indeed the city of Seattle was saying Merry Christmas indeed today as the Seahawks beat St. Louis to snag the AFC west title and thus they do not have to play next week and should they prove strong, they get to play the two games enroute to the Super Bowl in the Emerald City.  The city is going crazy and all the local stations will be ramping up their coverage over the coming weeks so we will get to know every single detail that we never knew we wanted to know about the team and the franchise itself. 

While it might be hard for you to think I am in the know on all of this Seahawk trivia, do know I try and keep informed of what information needs to be known and shared with staff.  Thus, it is not only what is happening in Seattle, but in all of our cities where we have offices.  Thus, tomorrow I will be on the phones making sure that the various cities have viewing parties in place for the upcoming post season.  What one does for their work!  Have a good week ahead.

Joy!

The box says it all.  The joy one gets from seeing paperwhites grow almost before your eyes.  I received the above from my sister about 10 days ago.  You can see the progress.  A bit about the flower courtesy of Wikipedia:  Narcissus papyraceus (from papyrus and aceus; meaning paper-like), one of a few species known as "Paperwhite," is a perennial bulbous plant native to the Mediterranean region. The white flowers are borne in bunches and are strongly fragrant. It is frequently grown as a house plant, often forced to flower at Christmas.

My planned trip to the beach this day was canceled as my tummy was still not a completely happy camper.  Also, Michael is still not feeling 100% after dealing with his cold for 10 days.  I think it best to step back and let nature allow us time to heal and not press on and try and make things happen.  I look forward to seeing him in two weeks for Ya-Ya weekend!

2013 Memories

My sister, Janet, sent me this picture of her and Mom this morning.  It is an awesome picture.  It has been quite the year and as it draws to a close I enjoy sitting back and reflecting on the year.  Got to go down to Ashland and celebrate Mom's 90th birthday in early May.  Took Janet to Tad's Chicken & Dumplings for her birthday over the summer and tied it in with a visit to allow Damon a chance to see both the Oregon and Washington coasts.  Damon has been a real plus in my life as we marked a year in September and now looking at future options of his relocating from Las Vegas to Seattle which could very well happen in the new year. 

I moved in April from Uwajimaya Village to a new 1 bedroom and now I will be moving again as the apartment is just not home for me.  There are too many things wrong with the space.  In August I agreed to go to New Orleans for a week.  Why?  Never again, way too hot and muggy.  But it was fun to take a full week off from work and just have some fun.  Have been doing the blog now for several years, but this year is going to mark the first time I have posted every single day of the year.  Granted, there are those time when I have to play catch up and in the end it has been fun.  I hope you have had fun reading.  Tomorrow we are going to possibly head down to Long Beach, WA to see my friend Michael for a delayed Boxing Day celebration.  I say possible in that the tummy has been kind of rumbling and not sure if I want to try and drive that far when not feeling 100%.  We will make the final call in the morning.

So glad it is Friday and next week will get broken up with New Year's Day.  That will make for a short week and that only means the other 4 days will be on the intense side - oh joy.  I hope that the new year brings all of you much joy and happiness with wonderful memories.  Cheers!

A Moment of Laughter

Saw this and felt the overwhelming need to share it with all of you.  It is so sad that it is so true.  I have enjoyed the crazy things that they feel the need to be "major stories" and yet in the end they are not at all.  Today it was back to the salt mine and had to sit through an hour plus of babble among senior staff with one certain person in particular spewing all the wonderful things about Fox News and I could only put my phone on mute so they could not hear me gagging on this end.  OY!

Quite The Festivus Plus...

Tis a day to take and ponder all the good there is and how enjoyable it is to mark another year.  This year the day was spent in Seattle with Damon.  Talked with several people and got a heck of a lot of text messages.  Watched movies and took a long nap.  Leftovers were the meals of the day as the frig groans with leftovers.  So following is a summary of the Christmas Eve dinner that took about six hours to prepare.

Yes, this year I decided to take on the challenge of cooking a Turducken.  Have heard about them for years and so a couple of weeks ago I ordered one direct from Louisiana.  It arrived on dry ice and went right into the freezer.  Sunday it was put in the refrigerator so it could properly thaw.  Let the challenge begin.

I did not have a roasting pan big enough to hold the creation of a chicken inside a duck inside a turkey.  Ordered the one that was stuffed with cornbread and pork rice stuffing.  Damon was a trooper yesterday making several runs to Fred Meyer to get the needed ingredients for the dinner.  The directions on the bag differed from those online and so I stuck to making sure it cooked to 165 degrees.  Indeed, it went in at 2pm and cooked until 7ish and then sat for over 30 minutes to rest.

Markie arrived a tad early and was starving from working at the wine shop all day and so we decided to split up the dinner a bit into courses.  First up, a lovely tomato and mozzarella salad with a balsamic vinaigrette.  Freddie's was sold out on fresh basil and so we did without.  Believe me, it was not missed that much. 

Indeed, Markie supplied the bubbles for the dinner and in the spirit of the season and his wanting to be unique arrived in a leopard trimmed Santa hat.  Always one to think outside the box. 

Here the turducken made it on the platter only after having the bottom drop out while transferring the creation.  To get a better idea of a turducken here is a fun video a friend sent along.  But it was time to eat and oh the feast that ensued.  Luckily we all realized that the eyes might be a tad bigger than our stomachs - even me - and so the frig is going to be supplying meals for the balance of the week.

In addition to the main course (above) there were two vegetable dishes.  A traditional green bean casserole complete with fried onions as well as a cauliflower dish with cream of mushroom and swiss cheese.  Both turned out quite nicely and Damon loves the latter.

Here is a cross shot of the turducken to give you an idea of what we were dealing with.  Funny how it has proven to be a dish much like the year I cooked a goose in New York City.  Fun to do once, but no need to do it again!  After dinner it was time to exchange gifts and below I am holding the plethora of gifts from Markie.  Some wine, coffee, salmon pate and a wine bottle opener.  Quite a festive hall.  Yes, the beard has gotten a little long.  But it will be going back to normal with the new year.  Getting a bit out of control in the spirit of the season.  How does Santa do it?  I hope however you celebrate that you made it a lovely day!

Christmas Eve Movies

Without a doubt my favorite Christmas movie is "The Polar Express" which came out 10 years ago.  I remember going to see it at OMSI (a museum in Portland) with my sister and friends on the big screen.  When we got back to the car Janet had made bells on red ribbons and to this day it hangs on a door in my apartment.  It is fun to have movies that make you do the happy cry.  And let me tell you I can just about tell you exactly where I will begin crying on different movies. 

For me, it is not just about Santa Claus but rather the belief in Santa and the good that comes out of people at this time of the year.  There is the joy in chatting with friends and reflecting on memories of Christmas' gone by and the fun we have had over the years.  It is taking the time to have people over and share in good food and good times.  Today will be a day of watching movies and preparing a fun and festive meal for this evening.  Looking forward to sharing all about it tomorrow.

Besides "The Polar Express" I have several other favorites.  As you can tell from the post a couple of days ago, I own a leg lamp as seen in "A Christmas Story" which is a holiday favorite.  I enjoyed sharing it with Damon this year as he had never seen it before.  A few years ago my brother Mike gave me the game - as seen below - and we have played it along with Rob and Jodie several times.  It is a lot of fun.

Now I have to admit, there are several other favorites I try and be sure to watch each year.  "Miracle on 34th Street" the original black and white version as well as the 1984 version of "A Christmas Carol" with George C. Scott.  "Scrooged" with Bill Murray is always fun to watch and I could go on and on.  Last week on The Today Show they had a contest and I so did not agree with the final two movies that they considered the best - "It's a Wonderful Life" and "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" in that while the former is a classic, really, the latter leaves a lot to be desired.  I have over a dozen Christmas movies on DVD and a bunch of TV shows.  But that is a whole different posting for the future.  Merry Christmas Eve!

Can You Say Yum?

Over the weekend we got a lot done around the house.  I was not in the mood to cook on Sunday and so Damon walked over to Fred Meyer and got a cooked chicken, asparagus and for him a couple of bagels.  It proved to be a wonderful dinner.  I had the dark meat while he munched the white meat - he only likes white meat.  We both enjoy asparagus and while he ate a blueberry bagel (which I think is just wrong) and a herb bagel, I ate some leftover Thai cucumber salad.  A very nice dinner indeed. 

Going to work from home a portion of today as I have been up since 2AM.  Not sure why?  Do not feel sick and yet can't sleep.  After finishing this I am going to check mail at the office and then go and take a nap to see if I am up to going into the office for a couple of hours, we shall see.

The Decorating Is Done

So we have the computer table decked out with The Leg Lamp from "A Christmas Story" in addition to a couple of favorite Santa's and pictures from past Christmas celebrations.  This year was a much more simple decorating going on giving the eye a chance to breath.

While the snow globe collection took over the side credenza, the kitchen has the snowmen in place less the platter I used as you can see.  A little hard to see on the far right is a Jimmy the Cricket ornament that Rob & Jodie gave me from their trip to Disneyland earlier this year.

New lights are in the garland this year.  Teardrop LEDs that are so much the norm these days.  Still have a lot of trinkets displayed through the shelf unit and off to the left is Santa and the stuffed animals on the floor.  On the right is a pillow my Mom made for me years ago and is always out on display.  Ah the memories.

Solstice Greetings To All

While we had snow yesterday - enough to have a late start at work - it was all gone by noon.  Alas this day at 9:11am solstice arrived thus marking either the shortest day of the year or the longest night of the year depending on your perspective.  And now the days will begin to grow longer.

A Month Ago

Wow how time does fly.  November 20th Damon arrived for his extended visit.  It has been a month and it is going fabulously.  No fights and we really do work well together.  He makes me laugh and we are able to give each other space.  Next week we will celebrate Christmas together before heading off to the beach for a delayed Boxing Day celebration with Michael.  Plans are not set yet for New Year's Eve, but likely mellow and at home as we do not want to be out with all the crazy people.  By the way the hat does have reading lights in the front.  Quite amusing.

Decorating Continues

This year I have a balcony to decorate and while some might do lights, as you can see - on my building it is a whole lot of nothing.  But if you look carefully you will see up at the top just off right is my inflatable snowbear. 

Here you can see a little closer that indeed I am not the only one that is decorating.  There is a tree lit up only a couple floors down.  Kind of underwhelmed by the lack of Christmas energy being displayed.  Oh well, we will be finishing up the interior of the apartment this weekend.

This gives you a better close-up of the bear without flash to show the festive inflatable decoration.  A few years ago this is what greeted me when I came home from an extended trip to Phoenix opening that office.  Markie had found it at Home Depot I do believe.  It is fun to use in different places over time.  Below is a picture of the bear with flash.  Ho! Ho! Ho!

A New Perspective on Advent Calendars

One thing that is fun to do as we make our way ever closer to Christmas is to do an Advent Calendar.  I got one for Damon that is filled with chocolates.  A friend posted this on facebook a few days ago and it made me smile.  I gave a friend an advent calendar that has ornaments and such with Velcro to make a festive wreath.  And so the countdown to Christmas continues.  So glad we are getting closer and closer to the hump.  It has been a heck of a week already!

Tuesday Humor

From time to time I get material on facebook for the blog posting.  This is one of those times.  My sister and Mom have played Scrabble for years and they are known for multiple 7-letter words in a game.  Well, she posted this over the weekend and when I first looked at it just kind of glazed past it, but then I went back and looked again and boy did I start laughing.  Thus, on this Tuesday when a good laugh is always helpful I share it with your folks and give a shout out of thanks to Janet for helping with another blog post.  Ho! Ho! Ho!

Christmas In New York

I have always felt that New York City does Christmas in such an amazing way and it is so magical to be there at this time of year.  From looking at the tree at Rockefeller Center and then you turn around and see the snowflake show on Sak's Fifth Avenue...

The angels in the Channel Gardens at Rockefeller are a crowd favorite and are stored in the basement of Rockefeller Center each year until they are rolled out once again.  But they are not the only decorations.  Below are the wonderful giant ornaments that prove to be a favorite picture background for tourists.

And you cannot forget about Radio City Music Hall that is in the background of the above picture that has the huge Christmas Show that in 90 minutes gets you in the Christmas spirit whether you like it or not!

Retail stores go all out with their fabulous windows and then there are those that just go over the top like Cartier above that "wraps" their store with a huge bow and below is Macy's which always reminds you to Believe.

This view is one I have seen many times coming from the Newark airport on the bus into Port Authority in Manhattan.  It tells me I have arrived with the Empire State Building decked out in holiday colors.  Quite the skyline and one that you just never really forget about.

And it would not be Christmas in New York without the fabulous Rockettes.  They are truly the holiday ambassadors to all and such a crowd pleaser.  How they keep up that energy when doing up to 5 shows a day and have 4-6 numbers in each show.  So exhausting and yet so much fun.  Merry Christmas and thanks for the walk down memory lane.

Birthday Dinner Delivered

Due to Rob and Jodie attending a company Christmas party last Saturday, my birthday dinner was delayed until last night and oh was it worth it!  Above you can see the table is already full with bread, fois gras, and a delicious salad of sliced brussel sprouts, toasted pecans, crasins with a honey mustard dressing.  I think I liked it best and even had a second helping.  There is leftovers that will be enjoyed later today.

Now tell me, how often can you actually grill on the deck in December.  Rob was so generous to brave the cold and look at the results.  Four beautiful New York Strip Steaks.  I got to have the one on the left.  You might notice the ivory steak knives.  They were a wedding gift to my parents back in 1953.  Scrimshaw handles and they are still just as beautiful as ever.

Here is my plate before the feasting began.  It was just delightful to spend an afternoon into evening with two of my favorite friends.  Of course, it was an added bonus to have Damon joining us this year.  Now you might wonder how this all came to be?  Well, I wanted to have a peanut butter pie for my birthday and the only way Jodie would agree is if I let her make me an entire meal.  Well, this week she called and asked if I wanted to have the dinner over at their place or at mine.

Well, my friend Jeff is an amazing glass artist and made me some extra Haiku glasses.  He also included one he made especially for Rob and that is the one just to the left of Rob above (this picture was taken during dessert in case you did not figure it out) and it says simply TROLL which is a nickname for Rob.  Thus, by having them bring the dinner here we were able to surprise Rob with the glass.  Yes, my birthday and other people got surprises.  The peanut butter pie was to die for and we also played a game of Catan - yup, I won!  A very fun day indeed.

No Post Saturday - The Holiday Edition!

Indeed it is that time once again.  Jodie & Rob will be over for dinner in a while.  They are bringing my birthday dinner to me.  That is really cool.  I did not want to just "say no" to posting on the blog so here is a holiday bonus picture.  Happy Saturday.

Forget The Gingerbread Houses!

Sure anyone can go and make a gingerbread house for the holiday season and add all the decorations to make it festive, but it is the truly talented person who can go one step further and not only make gingerbread men, but make them doing different yoga positions.  Just think, you can be doing yoga and enjoying the tasty treat at the same time.  Yea, that's it, make it sound like it is healthy in some way and all is good in the world.  Thanks to my friend Alan in Denver for sending me this amusing picture of the Gingerbread Yoga Class!  Have a great weekend!

Flowers Of Christmas

Ah yes, it is that time of year when we deck the halls and make the house festive for the holiday season.  One thing that helps besides the tree and greens used in garlands are the flowers of the Christmas season.  I have several friends who are growing amaryllis for the holidays.  Often red, they can also be white and also a variety they call Peppermint.  They are fun to watch grow and the results are quite stunning.

No other flower compares to the scent that paper whites provide.  My sister has given them to me on several occasions.  They grow so fast and often you need to put a band or ribbon around the stalks like you see above to keep them standing up as they often become top heavy.  The room just becomes a floral fantasy of festive scents when they are all in bloom.  Whether you have one bulb or a dozen they are a sure sign of the holiday season and can last into the new year.

Without a doubt, the overall favorite of the season is the lovely poinsettia.  I really enjoy the different varieties available.  For the past few years I have been putting white ones in my silver punch bowl.  This year I am not sure what I will do as we are going to be decking the halls this weekend and so will let you know what we decided to do.  Enjoy the season!