Ups and Downs

We had a good Christmas. On Thursday, Christmas Eve, we had family over and James got engaged to Micah. We celebrated Christmas the next day; all of us were pretty happy with our presents. I got a netbook computer--that's what I'm using, in bed, to write this!

On Saturday, we had our Christmas dinner, good fettuccine and noodles. We watched a lot of Christmas movies that we had recorded on our DVR.

Yesterday, because the weather was dry, we took down our outside Christmas decorations. In the process of doing this, the ladder that I was standing on fell over--and I broke my ankle--the first broken bone that I've had in 52 years! I'll be in a cast for 6 to 8 weeks. I'm struggling to get around on the crutches, especially, going up and down the stairs.

Vainiaku's 20th Birthday

Today was my daughter Vainiaku's 20th birthday. It's hard to believe! The years have gone fast.

I took her and Selita out for breakfast and some shopping at Pioneer Place. I'm looking forward to seeing them more over the holidays.

I have my Christmas shopping and wrapping finished. Tomorrow evening, we're celebrating Christmas Eve with our family.

Avatar was Great!

Les & I went to see Avatar in 3-D yesterday afternoon. The alien planet was rendered very well, the creatures and vegetation realistically shown.

Joy and her mother, sister, and niece baked cookies. The house smelled yummy when I got home last night.

I'm off work for the rest of the year, so I get to relax some in addition to doing items from my 'honey do' list.

The Last Work Day of 2009.

I'm working from home today--to avoid the holiday traffic this afternoon. It has been kind of strange starting to right down 2010 on appointments, etc.. It has been almost 10 years since the the first 3 digits of the year have been 200!

We are going out to eat at Claim Jumper this evening, then driving down I-5 to Keizer to see the Miracle of Christmas Lighting Display.

On Sunday, Les and I are talking about going to see Avatar in 3D while the ladies do their cookie baking.

I've started my Project365. My 2009 pictures are at Project 365-2009. I'm mostly a scenery and nature photographer, so it will be a challenge taking daily photos until better weather arrives.

Rainy Weather

It's been raining pretty much constantly for the last couple of days. Yesterday, I dropped my car off for an oil change and walked home in the rain. Fortunately, I was wearing my felt hat so my head stayed dry.

Last evening, we attended a Christmas pageant held by the children where Joy works. The kids were cute.

During the night, I woke up thinking about making a New Year's Resolution to start a project to take a picture every day and post it on my Picasa site. This morning, my daily email from Digital Photography School contained an item about Photography Project365--interesting timing.

Our house decorations are almost finished. Hopefully, it will be all ready by Friday evening before we take our trip to Keizer to look at Christmas lights.

The snow and freezing rain missed Portland.

The bad weather that was forecast for us went south of us, so we had relatively good weather. There was a little frost on the cars and road yesterday morning when we went out for breakfast, but it just required a little more care in driving, especially in shady areas.

After breakfast, we worked on getting the house into shape for Christmas. We put up additional shelves for nicknacks, and organized our stairwell landing and spare bedroom.

We also watched some TV Christmas movies on our DVR--recorded from Hallmark and Lifetime channels.

I'm now at work for the last Monday that I work until next year.

2 weeks until Christmas

It's Friday, December 11. Two weeks from today is Christmas Day.

On Sunday, assuming we don't get snowed in [which is a possibility!], we're planning to attend Posada Milagro so that John can get some extra Spanish practice. It is a Christmas pageant, all in Spanish.

We'll probably spend some time catching up on some of the holiday movies that we've been recording from Hallmark and Lifetime.

Still clear & cold!

The weather has continued to be clear and cold. On the way to work this morning, they reported that it was 3 degrees in Vernonia. For the weekend, the forecast is for some freezing rain, and then more normal weather for Portland.

Last evening, James and his girlfriend, Micah, came over for dinner. It was nice to see them. Micah is acting in a play at her school, Thoroughly Modern Millie. We might go see her performance this weekend.

Today for lunch, I went with some friends to Daphne's Greek Cafe. The food was very good, a change from our normal lunchtime destinations. I'll have to take Joy to one of their restaurants sometime.

A Cold, Clear Weekend

It was clear and cold all weekend long, and is supposed to stay that way for most of the week.

Saturday evening, Joy & I watched My Favorite Wife, an old black & white Cary Grant and Irene Dunne movie that we got from Netflix. I also got another HDMI cable so that we can hook my notebook to the TV and use it for Netflix streaming of movies and TV shows.

We went out and got our Christmas tree yesterday; we got it from a U-Pick location outside Sandy, the same place as last year. We got a 7 foot tall noble fir for $10. It will look good in our living room.

Last evening, John had his 1st date at the PAA Winter Banquet. He looked very sharp in his suit and tie. While he was at the banquet, Joy & I went to the Old Spaghetti Factory by the river and shared a fettucine alfredo for dinner. After the good meal, we drove through the streets of downtown Portland, enjoying the Christmas lights and decorations.

The Ducks Won!

It was a close, hard-played game, and the Ducks prevailed at the end, winning 37 to 33. During the game, I was talking to my daughter, a Beaver's fan (her cousin played for the Beavers before going into Arena Football), on the phone and a friend who is a fellow Duck's fan online. Made for an interesting environment.

The news stories for the game talked about a girl from Oklahoma, Angel Wilson, who has cerebral palsy. She loves the Ducks, her eyes lighting up whenever she sees them play. A group of Duck and Beaver fans collected money to bring her to the game. This is a heart-warming story.

I'm glad that it is Friday, although the weekend will be pretty busy, between multimedia duty this evening and tomorrow and John's Winter Banquet on Sunday.

Civil War Thursday 2009

Tonight, at Autzen Stadium, the Oregon Ducks play the Oregon State Beavers in the annual Civil War. The winner of tonight's matchup will play in the Rose Bowl on January 1 against the Ohio State Buckeyes. As a University of Oregon alumni, of course I have to cheer for the Ducks. Hopefully, the game will be similar to last year's result--where the Ducks won 65 to 38. However, in the very unfortunate case in which the Ducks were to lose the game tonight, I'd still cheer for the Beavers against the Buckeyes come January 1.

Back to work time.

We had a good Thanksgiving break. We ate lots of good food with the family.

Friday, Joy went out to do some Black Friday shopping. I stayed home near my computer so that I could give her directions to the stores--plus I avoided the crowds! Friday afternoon, we met Les & Keri to go see A Christmas Carol. Les & I want to go see it in 3-D sometime, but the ladies aren't interested in that, feeling a little queasy just from the 2-D version.

Saturday evening, we went to a ballroom dancing class. They were teaching the cha-cha-cha. The class was definitely targeted at people who'd been through other dancing classes. I felt very awkward. It was still fun, but I want to learn some basic steps at home (via youtube or DVDs before venturing out in public again!) After the dancing, we went to the Spaghetti Factory by the Willamette River for dinner. We split a vegetarian lasagna dish, reducing the cost--and the calories!

Yesterday, we put up our outside Christmas lights and decorations. Our house looks pretty with the bright lights and other Christmas figurines--snowmen, angels, reindeer, etc. Last evening, we did another movie with Les & Keri, Couples Retreat. The scenery from Bora Bora made us want to take our own couples retreat!

Happy Thanksgiving 2009

Last evening, while doing some cooking, we watched Planes, Trains & Automobiles to get us in the Thanksgiving spirit.

We're going to get together with Joy's family today for food, laughter, and some football. Even though I'm a vegetarian, I always find plenty to eat and have never left the table still hungry. Yummy, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie!

Tomorrow, Joy is getting up early for Black Friday shopping, then in the afternoon, we are going to see Disney's A Christmas Carol with our friends Les & Keri. We're also planning to get see Couple's Retreat with them on Sunday evening. Another movie that Joy is looking forward to is The Princess and the Frog. She is a frog lover, so will enjoy watching that animated film; its trailer looks funny.

A Good Weekend to Remember

Over the weekend, Joy & I went to a Weekend to Remember seminar. It was very good. At the end, on Sunday, we renewed our wedding vows. We're already talking about attending another one sometime in the future and also having some marriage enhancement meetings in our home.

On Saturday evening, we went to The Melting Pot in downtown Portland for a date night. The food was spectacular, but very rich. We had a cheese fondue, salads, a vegetable entree and Bananas Foster for dessert. Joy has already set this as one of her favorite restaurants and we're looking forward to visiting it with friends sometime.

I have this week off for vacation; unfortunately, Joy still has to work.

The Friday before Thanksgiving

The holiday season is rushing towards us. Next Thursday is Thanksgiving. I have next week off; I'm sure that Joy will have a Honey Do list for me to work on.

Joy & I will be at a Weekend to Remember seminar at Jantzen Beach this weekend. It should be a good recharge to our marriage. John will be spending the weekend at a friend's home, so we'll have the house to ourselves so we can dance and play together.

Joy is already looking through advertisements in preparation for Black Friday shopping.

We're already talking about vacations for next summer. We're thinking of taking a trip to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, but nothing is definite yet. After last summer's trips to California and Vegas, we're going to try spending less money in 2010.

Stormy Weather

There have been high winds and rain here in the northwest. Along the coast, there have been gusts of up to 90 mph. Even here in the valley, the gusts have reached around 50 mph. Another storm system is supposed to come through this afternoon.

This weekend, Joy and I are attending a Weekend to Remember conference with our friends Les & Keri. It should be a good refresher for our marriage.

A trip up the Gorge

On Saturday afternoon, we drove up the gorge with our friends Les & Keri. It was cloudy, but still pretty, with the yellow fall leaves against the backdrop of the Columbia River and its waterfalls. Our first stop was at Portland Women's Forum State Scenic Viewpoint. We next stopped at Shepperd's Dell. We've driven past this many times, but had never stopped. It was interesting to see the lovely waterfalls that can't be seen from the road. Our next stop was at the Bridal Veil Overlook. We strolled along the trail with I-84 and the Columbia River below us. We hoped to see some otters across from Horsetail Falls, but they weren't out. The snow level was down to about 1500', so we got some pictures with snow on some of the hills. Back in Portland, we went to eat at Chang's Mongolian Grill.

Friday the 13th

I don't suffer from paraskevidekatriaphobia or any other superstition that I'm aware of, so I like Fridays.

Joy had a sleep study last night and today. They are trying to see if she has narcolepsy. Hopefully, they'll figure out something so she can be more rested after a night of sleep.

The freezing level tonight is supposed to get down to around 1000 feet, higher than our home, but still pretty low. The ski areas up on Mt. Hood are all open as of today. Maybe they'll have another long ski season this year.

A nice visit

My parents came down yesterday afternoon to visit with us and attend a Portland Dahlia Society meeting. We had a good dinner and visit, and I worked on my dad's computer.

The weather has been a mixture of sun and rain. I saw a couple of rainbows on my way home yesterday.

An elementary school down the street from us burned down yesterday. All of the students and faculty are safe, thankfully.

A Brilliant Sunrise

There's a lovely, colorful sunrise out this morning.

The men's conference that I attended was very good. The weather was interesting, too. It was sunny and clear when I drove to Gladstone on Saturday morning. By lunch time, it was raining in buckets, with several flashes of lightning.

Yesterday, we did some work around the house. I started getting some shelves set up for Joy to put some of her nicknacks on.