Merry Christmas (in lights) 2011

Before leaving for home today, David helped me put up the Christmas lights on the house. Most of the layout is always the same (the roof outline, the windows, the tree on the lawn, the garage), but I have added rope lights of various colors and varieties (they are not all up yet) and other odds and ends to mix it up every year.

This is the first time in 3 years I've had a chance to get this done on Thanksgiving weekend like I used to do. It's a good thing, with Christmas concerts and stake conference coming up in the next two weeks, it's nice to have it done.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

David has been talking about going to the coast ever since before he got here, so today we drove over to Bodega Bay. We had hoped to go to our usual stomping grounds - the Stake Parks at Bodega Dunes and Salmon Creek. . .

BUT THEY WERE CLOSED! The budget in California has put many of the state parks out of commission for the time being, so we had to drive north to a parking lot where we could get down to the beach.

The weather was pretty warm when we got there, even though there wasn't much sun. I went boogie boarding first, then David tried it later. It was a lot of fun. Mom read, napped, and took a walk.

;;;;;;;;

We brought a little bit of food, (not enough as it turned out), but it good left-overs.

Below are a couple of scenes from the day, the first is from when we arrived, and the other when we were parking up to leave. There were really a lot of people there, especially families with lots of kids. That was fun to see and reminded me of all our trips to the beach with the family.

;;;;;;;;

On the way home we stopped in the little hamlet of Bodega to look at a little Christmas Fair. Mom bought some great soup and some fresh sourdough bread, David and I waited till we got to Petaluma for In-N-Out burgers and shake. It was a great day.

Mom, I Feel Sick . . .

Bleehhhh

We're getting ready for Thanksgiving and Mom has already set her hand to the marvelous work that she does so well. She's made pies and cookies, she's brined the turkey, made bread - and tomorrow she'll put the whole feast together and once again bless the lives of all those who come to eat.

(Okay, so David cut the face in the pie and it over boiled during cooking. I couldn't resist)

Today's Funny

So your cousin-in-law Sabrina had her baby last week (6lb 7oz, 20 in - photo below), and relates this story:

Friday, when they were getting ready to come home from the hospital several of the doctors and nurses were giving them advice on how to care for the baby once they got home, including that they should turn up the heat in their house higher than the 59 degrees they keep it at now (I guess she and James warm-blooded people). The nurses were also commenting on how unusually long her toes and fingers are.

She then says a pediatrician asked her if she had a bayonet at home. She giggled and said no, but we have a bassinet that will have to do for now. (hee hee)

I replied to her email that Chelsea and I have a lot in common. My Dad records my birth weight as 6lb 7 oz, I have unusually long toes and fingers, and people wanted to use a bayonet on me too.

Chelsea Ann Hall

;;;;;;;;

Race Day

Today was the annual Hands of Hope Turkey Trot. Hands of Hope is a charitable organization founded by some retired teachers (whom I am friends with, and who also belong to St. Andrews Presbyterian Church) and others to help homeless school children and their families. It's a really well-run organization, and our stake has been assisting them in a variety of ways.

My personal contributions include entering the data they collect each month (i.e. how their facilities and services are used) into a spreadsheet so that they can better serve people, and running in their annual 5k race. Specifically, my contribution to the race to make everyone in it feel better about themselves because there will be at least one person (me) who is so slow that they will be able to pass him.

It was really beautiful weather today and the race went quite well. Of course a big up-side to doing this particular race every year is that they provide a free breakfast afterward. I'll never turn down pancakes, sausage, and orange juice!

I Thought This Was Funny

The Furniture Is FREE Today

It was beautiful weather today and after I had done several of my errands and chores, I decided to run 3 miles. It went really well. So on my way home (almost as I was passing Rich and Joanne's house) I saw what looked like a yard sale that had a nice looking chest of drawers with a big mirror on top of it - both with a sign that said FREE!

Well, I ran home (of course I was running already) got in the Jeep and drove back to pick it up. It turns out that ALL of the furniture was being given away. So I took a nice looking headboard with a mirror too.

I figured even if everything was rotten on them (it isn't, they're actually in pretty good shape) The mirrors alone are worth something. Plus the light fixtures in both are good.

Mom said: "Show those to Pam, she has lots of good ideas about how to use furniture." So here are the photos, and I'll open it up to everyone who knows us and our house. They're too small for our king size bed, and I'm not against just donating them to DI, or someone in the stake who needs them. What do you think?